Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,370,000 shares, a growth of 9.6% from the October 15th total of 4,900,000 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,210,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on DE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $420.69.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deere & Company

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DE. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 725.0% in the first quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 66 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Deere & Company during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Centennial Bank AR grew its position in Deere & Company by 420.0% in the second quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE DE traded up $4.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $398.95. 1,168,176 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,015,799. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $420.47. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $404.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $385.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.