Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Makes New $413,000 Investment in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 7,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $413,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Equitable Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Corteva by 96.6% in the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 9,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 4,822 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Corteva in the 3rd quarter valued at about $273,000. Essex Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Corteva in the 3rd quarter valued at about $217,000. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of Corteva by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 80,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Corteva by 65.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares during the period. 81.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 value of $1,692,934.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,347 shares in the company, valued at $723,257.78. The trade was a 70.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Corteva Stock Performance

Shares of CTVA opened at $60.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.79. Corteva, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.01 and a 52 week high of $66.24.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a return on equity of 7.19% and a net margin of 5.36%. Equities analysts forecast that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corteva declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 19th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Corteva’s payout ratio is presently 52.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CTVA shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Corteva from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BNP Paribas raised Corteva to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Corteva presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.79.

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.