Short Interest in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Declines By 5.2%

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,620,000 shares, a drop of 5.2% from the May 31st total of 3,820,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,410,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on DE. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Deere & Company from $460.00 to $439.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Deere & Company from $483.00 to $465.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $385.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $395.00 target price for the company. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised their target price on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $427.66.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total value of $5,048,913.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deere & Company

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 46.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 134,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,749,000 after buying an additional 42,906 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its position in Deere & Company by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 32,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,433,000 after buying an additional 1,054 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 273.4% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after buying an additional 3,180 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in Deere & Company by 503.1% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 14,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,401,000 after buying an additional 11,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Advisors LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 566.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 3,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after buying an additional 3,069 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE opened at $364.95 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $353.15 and a 1 year high of $450.00. The stock has a market cap of $100.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $384.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $387.09.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.86 by $0.67. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 42.26% and a net margin of 16.15%. The firm had revenue of $13.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 25.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.70%.

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.