Beacon Financial Group Reduces Stake in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Beacon Financial Group reduced its holdings in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,723 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,188 shares during the quarter. Beacon Financial Group’s holdings in Corteva were worth $1,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in 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 during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its position in shares of Corteva by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 3,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV lifted its stake in shares of Corteva by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 12,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Corteva by 44.4% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. grew its stake in Corteva by 2.2% in the third quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 8,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. 81.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on CTVA. Barclays raised their price objective on Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Corteva from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Corteva from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.73.

Corteva Stock Performance

Shares of CTVA stock opened at $62.02 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.35. Corteva, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.01 and a 52 week high of $66.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.63 billion, a PE ratio of 48.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.78.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a return on equity of 7.19% and a net margin of 5.36%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Corteva Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.71%.

Corteva announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 19th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.