Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 8,001 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lowered its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 40,897 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 8,001 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $15,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DE. Tompkins Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.6% during the first quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 981 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.7% during the first quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 4,050 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 5.2% during the first quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.4% during the first quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 1,146 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, First Foundation Advisors increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.3% during the first quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 1,249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of DE stock opened at $416.47 on Wednesday. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $420.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $381.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $384.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $114.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. The firm had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Deere & Company from $375.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Deere & Company from $395.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $410.50.

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.