Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases New Shares in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 225,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,860,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CTVA. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Corteva in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Corteva in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Corteva in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in Corteva in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT increased its stake in Corteva by 112.6% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 606 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CTVA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Corteva from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Corteva to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Corteva has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $67.73.

Corteva Stock Up 0.2 %

Corteva stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $62.96. 3,509,625 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,528,867. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.78. Corteva, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.01 and a 52-week high of $66.24. The business's 50-day moving average price is $61.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.22.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 7.19%. On average, research analysts expect that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis 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 authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 19th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Corteva

In other news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total value of $1,692,934.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $723,257.78. This trade represents a 70.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Corteva 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.