Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Short Interest Up 9.6% in October

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deere & Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DE. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,008,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 428.6% during the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 7,866 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,231,000 after purchasing an additional 6,378 shares during the period. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 7.5% during the first quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 1,359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Cynosure Group LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the first quarter worth about $347,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in Deere & Company by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DE traded up $4.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $398.95. 1,168,176 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,015,799. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $420.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $404.03 and a 200-day moving average of $385.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 20.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $360.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $443.00 to $496.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised 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. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $420.69.

Deere & Company Company Profile

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.