Deere’s Stock Has Been Hot Lately. It Took a Breather Today

Shares of tractor and farm equipment maker Deere (DE) have been on a tear this year, recently touching record highs. They dipped today after an analyst suggested that maybe they needed to cool a bit.

Deere stock ended Wednesday near $515, down some 2% on the day. In the rear-view mirror, that doesn’t look like so much: The shares are up more than 20% this year, aided lately by quarterly profits, reported earlier this month, that came in better than expected.

Today’s slip, which came as broader markets fell, was perhaps influenced by a report from BMO analysts, who have a neutral “market perform” rating on the shares.

BMO lifted its price target by $35 to $460, but that’s the lowest of any tracked by Visible Alpha, where the mean close to $553 is about $38 higher than today’s close, and it would mean a return to prices last seen at the start of this month. (Read Investopedia’s full coverage of today’s trading here.)

Wall Street expects Deere’s revenue to fall for the current fiscal year, according to Visible Alpha, then post modest year-over-year growth in the next one.

“We aren’t yet convinced growers will broadly return to make large capital purchases for some time,” the analysts wrote. “We remain neutral at current valuation, thinking the stock has run ahead a little early.”