Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) Hits New 52-Week High on Earnings Beat

Shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $66.50 and last traded at $65.98, with a volume of 2264471 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $62.48.

The company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.25. Corteva had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 7.19%. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Corteva’s payout ratio is 41.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CTVA. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Corteva from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Corteva from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Corteva in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Corteva from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Corteva from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Corteva has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.64.

Insider Activity at Corteva

In other Corteva news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $723,257.78. This trade represents a 70.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Corteva

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Corteva during the 4th quarter worth about $1,514,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Corteva by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,428,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,031,000 after buying an additional 525,531 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Corteva by 51.9% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 695,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,624,000 after buying an additional 237,764 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Corteva by 755.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 552,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,486,000 after acquiring an additional 488,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Corteva by 54.5% during the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 96,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,474,000 after acquiring an additional 33,886 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.54% of the company’s stock.

Corteva Stock Up 1.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a market cap of $46.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.48, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.74.

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.