Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 38,076 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 774,076 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 38,076 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $360,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DE. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,927,000 after buying an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 7.8% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,076 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,056,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the second quarter worth $2,153,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 6.0% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,538,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 6.7% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $789,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE DE opened at $577.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $156.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.56, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.96. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $433.00 and a twelve month high of $674.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $590.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $530.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $9.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.50 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.Deere & Company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 18.01 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 36.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on DE shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $560.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $541.00 to $736.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Deere & Company from $675.00 to $580.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $580.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $655.45.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.