Fortis Group Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Fortis Group Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 357.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $191,628,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $166,937,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Deere & Company by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,146,441 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $802,037,000 after buying an additional 279,627 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Deere & Company by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,988,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,031,500,000 after buying an additional 263,709 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 28,306.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 249,977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $934,000 after purchasing an additional 249,097 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE stock opened at $406.65 on Wednesday. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $420.47. The company’s 50-day moving average is $395.40 and its 200 day moving average is $385.21. The company has a market capitalization of $112.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.07.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on DE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $360.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. HSBC lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $420.69.

Deere & Company Profile

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.