ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 16,814 Shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 725,001 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,814 shares during the quarter. Corteva makes up 1.7% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Corteva were worth $42,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Corteva in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Corteva in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Corteva by 2,522.2% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 472 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 454 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its holdings in Corteva by 77.2% in the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 505 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Ironwood Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Corteva by 106.1% in the 1st quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management Inc. now owns 544 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Corteva Price Performance

Shares of Corteva stock opened at $58.95 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.05. Corteva, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.22 and a 52 week high of $59.08. The company has a market capitalization of $41.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.62, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.09. Corteva had a return on equity of 7.30% and a net margin of 5.31%. The business had revenue of $6.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.17 dividend. This is an increase from Corteva’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Corteva’s payout ratio is currently 86.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on CTVA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Corteva from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Argus cut Corteva from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Corteva from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Corteva from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Corteva from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $59.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Corteva currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.21.

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.