Hodges Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 31.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,909 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,097 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 1,180.0% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 64 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total transaction of $5,048,913.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $373.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $385.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $387.21. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $353.15 and a 52-week high of $450.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.86 by $0.67. The business had revenue of $13.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 42.26% and a net margin of 16.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.65 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25.61 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 17.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on DE. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $383.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Truist Financial started coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $494.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James started coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $420.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $385.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $430.55.

About Deere & Company

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.