The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Increases Stake in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA - Free Report) by 10.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,279,230 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 126,090 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.19% of Corteva worth $75,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in Corteva by 7.7% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,862 shares of the company's stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Corteva by 12.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,043 shares of the company's stock worth $532,000 after buying an additional 1,030 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Corteva by 9.0% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 107,810 shares of the company's stock worth $6,338,000 after buying an additional 8,906 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Corteva by 3.0% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 20,517 shares of the company's stock worth $1,206,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Corteva by 62.1% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 6,957 shares of the company's stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 2,665 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CTVA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Corteva from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Corteva from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 target price (up previously from $69.00) on shares of Corteva in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Corteva from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Corteva has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.06.

Corteva Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CTVA traded down $0.75 during trading on Thursday, reaching $62.50. The company had a trading volume of 2,517,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,313,591. The company has a fifty day moving average of $59.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.77. Corteva, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.89 and a 12 month high of $64.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Corteva declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Corteva Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Corteva's payout ratio is 68.69%.

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.