Davis R M Inc. Raises Stock Position in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Davis R M Inc. grew its position in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,389 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Corteva were worth $307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Corteva by 267.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,120,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,851,000 after buying an additional 815,135 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Corteva in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,514,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,523,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,966,000 after acquiring an additional 66,052 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Corteva by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,428,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,031,000 after purchasing an additional 525,531 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Corteva by 51.9% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 695,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,624,000 after purchasing an additional 237,764 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.54% of the company’s stock.

Corteva Price Performance

Corteva stock opened at $59.98 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.64. The stock has a market cap of $41.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.79. Corteva, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.01 and a 12-month high of $66.24.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (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%. Equities analysts expect that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corteva declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 19th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board 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 paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $723,257.78. This trade represents a 70.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on CTVA shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on Corteva from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America raised their target price on Corteva from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.79.

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.