Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $161.05 Million Investment in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,827,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $161,052,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of Corteva at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Corteva by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 13,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its position in shares of Corteva by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 4,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Corteva by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of Corteva by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its position in shares of Corteva by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 3,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CTVA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Corteva from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Corteva from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.79.

Corteva Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:CTVA opened at $60.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.56 billion, a PE ratio of 46.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.66 and a 200-day moving average of $59.49. Corteva, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.01 and a 52 week high of $66.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 7.19%. Analysts predict that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.71%.

Corteva announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 19th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Corteva

In other news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total transaction of $1,692,934.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $723,257.78. The trade was a 70.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

About Corteva

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.