United Community Bank Lowers Holdings in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

United Community Bank reduced its position in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 19.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,480 shares of the company’s stock after selling 355 shares during the period. United Community Bank’s holdings in Corteva were worth $84,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Corteva by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 13,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its position in Corteva by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 4,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Corteva by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Corteva by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its position in Corteva by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 3,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Corteva Trading Down 0.4 %

CTVA opened at $60.62 on Monday. Corteva, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.01 and a 52 week high of $66.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.57. The company has a market capitalization of $41.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.99, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued 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 1.12%. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.71%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CTVA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Corteva from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on Corteva from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays upped their target price on Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Corteva currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $723,257.78. This trade represents a 70.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.