Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) Given New $73.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) had its price objective hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from $72.00 to $73.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

CTVA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group cut their price objective on Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Corteva from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Corteva from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.31.

Corteva Price Performance

CTVA opened at $62.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.95, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Corteva has a 12-month low of $50.01 and a 12-month high of $66.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.14.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a return on equity of 6.63% and a net margin of 4.18%. Equities analysts predict that Corteva will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.69%.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Corteva

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CTVA. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Corteva by 2.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,290,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,015,914,000 after purchasing an additional 768,519 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Corteva by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,703,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,037,505,000 after purchasing an additional 355,206 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Corteva by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,788,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $860,746,000 after purchasing an additional 856,007 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P raised its stake in shares of Corteva by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 14,362,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $844,360,000 after purchasing an additional 200,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Corteva by 1.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,747,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,863,000 after purchasing an additional 203,126 shares during the period. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Corteva

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.