Essex Financial Services Inc. Purchases 851 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 851 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.0 %

Deere & Company stock opened at $470.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $445.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $413.46. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $485.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is a boost from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 25.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $446.17.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.