Davis R M Inc. Reduces Stake in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Davis R M Inc. lessened its position in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,839 shares of the company’s stock after selling 202 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Corteva were worth $284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CTVA. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Corteva in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Corteva by 0.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 983,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,743,000 after buying an additional 4,498 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Corteva by 64.6% in the first quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,000 after acquiring an additional 3,544 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Corteva by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Corteva by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 18,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CTVA. UBS Group lifted their target price on Corteva from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Corteva from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Corteva in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target (up previously from $69.00) on shares of Corteva in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Corteva from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Corteva has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.33.

Corteva Stock Performance

NYSE CTVA opened at $64.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Corteva, Inc. has a 1-year low of $43.89 and a 1-year high of $64.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.07 billion, a PE ratio of 64.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.77.

Corteva declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, November 19th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.69%.

Corteva Company Profile

Corteva, Inc operates in the agriculture business. It operates through two segments, Seed and Crop Protection. The Seed segment develops and supplies advanced germplasm and traits that produce optimum yield for farms. It offers trait technologies that enhance resistance to weather, disease, insects, and herbicides used to control weeds, as well as food and nutritional characteristics.