Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Short Interest Update

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,080,000 shares, a decrease of 5.4% from the October 31st total of 5,370,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Deere & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $436.41.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:DE traded down $3.68 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $459.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,166,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,505,819. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.96. The firm's 50 day moving average is $415.29 and its 200-day moving average is $389.04. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $469.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.90 by $0.65. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. Deere & Company's quarterly revenue was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.26 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is an increase from Deere & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is 22.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deere & Company

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mattern Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 1.3% during the third quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $786,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.3% during the third quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 8,148 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,401,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $522,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its position in Deere & Company by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,160 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,495 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,459,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.