Scout Investments Inc. Reduces Position in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Scout Investments Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 45.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 167,395 shares of the company’s stock after selling 141,256 shares during the period. Scout Investments Inc.’s holdings in Corteva were worth $8,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 2.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,346,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,161,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941,323 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 47.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 25,758,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,234,359,000 after purchasing an additional 8,260,808 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,236,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $634,293,000 after purchasing an additional 2,141,428 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,815,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,133,000 after purchasing an additional 310,012 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,528,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,674,000 after purchasing an additional 883,161 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Corteva

In related news, insider Samuel R. Eathington sold 31,686 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.64, for a total value of $1,826,381.04. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 53,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,104,144.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Corteva news, insider Brian Titus sold 12,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.65, for a total value of $687,391.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $764,491.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Samuel R. Eathington sold 31,686 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.64, for a total transaction of $1,826,381.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 53,854 shares in the company, valued at $3,104,144.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,556 shares of company stock valued at $4,795,016 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Corteva Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of CTVA stock traded down $2.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $52.90. 3,750,902 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,093,683. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $55.80 and its 200-day moving average is $52.01. Corteva, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.22 and a fifty-two week high of $58.81. The company has a market cap of $36.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.78.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.10. Corteva had a return on equity of 6.68% and a net margin of 3.32%. The firm had revenue of $4.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 4th. Corteva’s payout ratio is 81.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Corteva from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Corteva from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Corteva from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Corteva from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Corteva has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.05.

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.