Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Short Interest Up 16.5% in July

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,750,000 shares, an increase of 16.5% from the July 15th total of 3,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,630,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Deere & Company stock traded up $4.66 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $377.92. The stock had a trading volume of 2,103,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,549,985. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.93. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $425.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $367.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $380.45.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 42.26% and a net margin of 16.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $10.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 25.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on DE. DA Davidson cut their target price on Deere & Company from $483.00 to $465.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $465.00 to $448.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $375.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $422.35.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total transaction of $5,048,913.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 41,642 shares in the company, valued at $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DE. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its stake in Deere & Company by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 981 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 0.7% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,548,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank raised its position in Deere & Company by 0.7% during the first quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 4,050 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 5.2% during the first quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

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.