Royal Bank of Canada Increases Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) Price Target to $73.00

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA - Free Report) had its price target boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $72.00 to $73.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

CTVA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Corteva from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America increased their target price on Corteva from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Corteva from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.56.

Corteva Stock Performance

Corteva stock traded up $0.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $63.01. 4,129,005 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,795,922. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.31 billion, a PE ratio of 48.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Corteva has a 12-month low of $50.01 and a 12-month high of $66.24. The business's 50-day moving average is $60.22 and its 200-day moving average is $58.30.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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, sell-side analysts predict that Corteva will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Corteva's payout ratio is 52.71%.

Corteva announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Corteva

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 6.2% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 141,018 shares of the company's stock worth $8,290,000 after buying an additional 8,202 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Corteva in the third quarter worth approximately $253,000. Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Corteva in the third quarter worth approximately $232,000. Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 6.6% in the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 4,707 shares of the company's stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 26.1% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 962 shares of the company's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. 81.54% of the stock is owned by 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.