Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Trims Stock Holdings in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its holdings in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,159 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,948 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Corteva were worth $1,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Corteva by 206.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 31,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 21,457 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Corteva during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Corteva by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 54,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,634,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its stake in shares of Corteva by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 5,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Corteva by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 18,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,000 after acquiring an additional 3,308 shares during the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CTVA shares. OTR Global reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Corteva in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Corteva from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Corteva from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Corteva from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Corteva presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Cornel B. Fuerer sold 39,736 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.41, for a total transaction of $2,281,243.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 126,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,269,713.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Samuel R. Eathington sold 31,686 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 53,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,104,144.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Cornel B. Fuerer sold 39,736 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.41, for a total transaction of $2,281,243.76. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 126,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,269,713.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 83,556 shares of company stock worth $4,795,016. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Corteva Stock Performance

Corteva stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $55.50. 455,915 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,404,847. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50 day moving average of $53.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.68. Corteva, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.22 and a 12 month high of $58.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $4.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. Corteva had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 6.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Corteva Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.17 dividend. This is an increase from Corteva’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.01%.

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.