Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,500,932 shares of the company's stock after selling 58,290 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.65% of Corteva worth $256,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Corteva by 267.3% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,120,104 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,851,000 after purchasing an additional 815,135 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of Corteva during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,514,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Corteva by 1.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,523,996 shares of the company's stock valued at $265,966,000 after purchasing an additional 66,052 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Corteva by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,428,206 shares of the company's stock worth $537,031,000 after acquiring an additional 525,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Corteva by 51.9% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 695,641 shares of the company's stock worth $39,624,000 after acquiring an additional 237,764 shares in the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Corteva Stock Performance

Corteva stock traded down $1.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $62.75. 2,476,698 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,578,375. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The business's 50-day moving average is $60.81 and its 200-day moving average is $58.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.02 billion, a PE ratio of 48.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.78. Corteva, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.01 and a 12-month high of $66.24.

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, Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corteva announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 19th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Corteva Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTVA has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Corteva from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Corteva from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $67.73.

Corteva Company 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.