Traders Buy High Volume of DuPont de Nemours Call Options (NYSE:DD)

DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (NYSE:DD) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 5,967 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 56% compared to the typical volume of 3,819 call options.

DuPont de Nemours Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of DD opened at $76.63 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $82.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.89. DuPont de Nemours has a 12-month low of $61.14 and a 12-month high of $90.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.34.

DuPont de Nemours (NYSE:DD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.15. DuPont de Nemours had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 6.64%. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that DuPont de Nemours will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

DuPont de Nemours Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. DuPont de Nemours’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.00%.

Institutional Trading of DuPont de Nemours

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of DuPont de Nemours by 2.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,983,109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,513,365,000 after acquiring an additional 399,728 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in DuPont de Nemours by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,952,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $883,821,000 after purchasing an additional 100,198 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in DuPont de Nemours by 9.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,410,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $556,751,000 after purchasing an additional 570,703 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of DuPont de Nemours by 0.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,863,144 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $310,945,000 after buying an additional 25,857 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of DuPont de Nemours by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,777,478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $247,501,000 after buying an additional 39,189 shares in the last quarter. 73.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DD shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of DuPont de Nemours from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of DuPont de Nemours from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of DuPont de Nemours from $98.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com upgraded DuPont de Nemours from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on DuPont de Nemours from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, DuPont de Nemours has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.25.

DuPont de Nemours Company Profile

DuPont de Nemours, Inc provides technology-based materials and solutions in the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through Electronics & Industrial, Water & Protection, and Corporate & Other segments. The Electronics & Industrial segment supplies materials and solutions for the fabrication of semiconductors and integrated circuits.