Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) Coverage Initiated at The Goldman Sachs Group

Equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $71.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 18.53% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Corteva from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Corteva Stock Up 2.2 %

CTVA opened at $59.90 on Thursday. Corteva has a twelve month low of $50.01 and a twelve month high of $66.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.66. The company has a market cap of $41.06 billion, a PE ratio of 46.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.79.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a return on equity of 7.19% and a net margin of 5.36%. Sell-side analysts expect that Corteva will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corteva announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 19th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Corteva news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total transaction of $1,692,934.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,347 shares in the company, valued at $723,257.78. This represents a 70.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Corteva

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CTVA. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Corteva in the 3rd quarter valued at $205,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 42.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 6,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 878 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.