Ledyard National Bank Acquires 55 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Ledyard National Bank increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 155.8% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $538.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup reduced their target price on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $444.50.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE stock opened at $464.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.56 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $445.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $411.89. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $485.84.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.31%.

About Deere & Company

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.