Bull of the Day: Deere & Co. (DE)
The Zacks Industrial Products sector is currently the top-ranked Zacks sector, telling us that companies within have seen their outlooks shift positively with rising earnings estimate revisions.
One company in the sector, Deere & Company DE, has been no exception to the positive shift in sentiment, presently sporting the highly-coveted Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Illinois-based Deere is the world’s largest producer of agricultural equipment, manufacturing agricultural machinery since 1837 under its iconic John Deere brand and signature green and yellow color scheme Let’s take a closer look at the company.
Shareholder-Friendly Nature
Everybody loves dividends. After all, who doesn’t like payday?
For those seeking an income stream, DE shares have that covered; the company’s annual dividend presently yields 1.2%, a few ticks below the Zacks Industrial Products sector average.
However, Deere’s 13% five-year annualized dividend growth rate helps pick up the slack in a big way. As we can see in the chart below, the company has no problem with increasingly rewarding its shareholders.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Reasonable Valuation
The company’s shares aren’t rich in terms of valuation, with the current 12.9X forward earnings multiple sitting well below the 16.3X five-year median and Zacks sector average.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Further, Deere’s forward price-to-sales ratio of 2.1X is nearly in line with the five-year median and again below the Zacks sector average.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Strong Quarterly Performance
DE has recently impressed with its quarterly results, exceeding earnings and revenue estimates in back-to-back quarters.
Just in its latest release, the agricultural equipment titan penciled in an 18.5% EPS surprise and reported sales roughly 1% ahead of expectations. Below is a chart illustrating the company’s revenue on a quarterly basis.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Bottom Line
Investors can implement a stellar strategy to find expected winners by taking advantage of the Zacks Rank – one of the most powerful market tools that provides a massive edge.
Additionally, the top 5% of all stocks receive the highly coveted Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). These stocks should outperform the market more than any other rank.
Deere & Company DE would be an excellent stock for investors to keep on their watchlists, as displayed by its Zack Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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Deere & Company (DE) : Free Stock Analysis Report