Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) Now Covered by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $71.00 target price on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Corteva to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Corteva from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.00.

Corteva Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Corteva stock opened at $58.51 on Thursday. Corteva has a 1 year low of $50.01 and a 1 year high of $66.24. 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 company has a market capitalization of $40.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.36, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s fifty day moving average is $61.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.63.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share 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 forecast that Corteva will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Corteva Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Corteva’s payout ratio is currently 52.71%.

Corteva announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Corteva

In other Corteva news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total transaction of $1,692,934.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $723,257.78. This represents a 70.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Corteva

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CTVA. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Corteva during the third quarter worth about $205,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in Corteva by 42.1% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 6,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 1,959 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Corteva by 16.5% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 878 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Corteva by 7.2% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Corteva by 10.3% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Corteva Company Profile

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.