SFE Investment Counsel Has $1.14 Million Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

SFE Investment Counsel cut its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DE. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Retirement Group LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 264.7% in the second quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE traded up $1.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $398.53. The company had a trading volume of 687,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,489,089. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $385.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $382.66. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $345.55 and a 1-year high of $450.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.05. The company has a market capitalization of $110.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.55 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 27.39 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Melius lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $433.28.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.