Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 143,379 Shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its position in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 64.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 77,884 shares of the company’s stock after selling 143,379 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Corteva were worth $4,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Corteva by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,174,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,509,799,000 after buying an additional 646,459 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Corteva by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,143,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $919,507,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,418 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Corteva by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,074,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $630,811,000 after purchasing an additional 264,531 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Corteva by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,428,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $537,031,000 after purchasing an additional 525,531 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,691,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,241,000 after buying an additional 167,742 shares during the period. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $723,257.78. This represents a 70.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CTVA. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Corteva to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Corteva currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.06.

Corteva Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CTVA opened at $59.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.45. Corteva, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.01 and a 52-week high of $66.24. The company has a market capitalization of $40.48 billion, a PE ratio of 45.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $61.27 and a 200-day moving average of $60.25.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 7.19%. On average, equities analysts predict that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.71%.

Corteva 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.