Hills Bank & Trust Co Reduces Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Hills Bank & Trust Co lessened its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,461 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 272 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 53,338.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 854,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $356,602,000 after buying an additional 852,885 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 46,892.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 772,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $322,218,000 after purchasing an additional 770,451 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $191,628,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $166,937,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 279,627 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. HSBC lowered Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $420.69.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $404.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.72 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $400.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $385.50. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $420.47.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. Deere & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued 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 is presently 20.06%.

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.