Carderock Capital Management Inc. Takes Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 148.3% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,179,000 after acquiring an additional 7,300 shares during the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC raised its stake in Deere & Company by 157.5% during the third quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,019,000 after purchasing an additional 540,874 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Deere & Company by 1.5% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 53.8% in the 3rd quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,376,000 after buying an additional 2,964 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Trading Up 4.0 %

NYSE DE opened at $456.57 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $430.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $401.33. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $469.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09. The firm has a market cap of $124.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.26 EPS. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $442.83.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.