Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Short Interest Up 5.8% in October

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,910,000 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the October 15th total of 2,750,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,430,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Deere & Company stock traded up $5.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $384.15. 1,338,071 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,552,840. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50-day moving average is $382.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $394.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.98. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $345.55 and a 12 month high of $450.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 18th. The industrial products company reported $10.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.22 by $1.98. The business had revenue of $14.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.14 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 46.15% and a net margin of 16.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 33.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 29th were given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 28th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.96%.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, insider Ryan D. Campbell sold 6,073 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.19, for a total transaction of $2,302,820.87. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,022,219.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deere & Company

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Telos Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,895 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,225,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Tichoniim Havera Menahelet LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,277,000. Gratus Capital LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 4.1% during the second quarter. Gratus Capital LLC now owns 2,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in Deere & Company by 3.2% in the second quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 43,656 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,355 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson upped their price target on Deere & Company from $492.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, September 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $486.00 target price on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (down from $530.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $398.00 to $407.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Deere & Company from $467.00 to $458.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $447.93.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company manufactures and distributes 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 mid-size tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters, harvesting front-end equipment, sugarcane loaders, 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.