Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) Price Target Raised to $72.00

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) had its price target raised by Oppenheimer from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Corteva from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Corteva from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Corteva from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Corteva currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.31.

Corteva Price Performance

CTVA stock opened at $62.32 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.22. The stock has a market cap of $42.83 billion, a PE ratio of 48.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.78. Corteva has a one year low of $50.01 and a one year high of $66.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 7.19%. On average, analysts predict that Corteva will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.71%.

Corteva announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Corteva

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Corteva during the fourth quarter valued at $161,052,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Corteva during the 3rd quarter valued at about $99,869,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Corteva by 6.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,788,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $860,746,000 after purchasing an additional 856,007 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Corteva by 267.3% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,120,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,851,000 after purchasing an additional 815,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,290,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,015,914,000 after purchasing an additional 768,519 shares during the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.