Corteva, Inc. (CTVA), headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, provides agriculture products. Valued at $36.88 billion by market cap, the company offers seeds, crop protection products, and digital products and services. It develops and supplies germplasm and traits in the corn, soybean, and sunflower seed markets and products to the agricultural input industry that protect against weeds, insects, and other pests and diseases and enhance crop health.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as “large-cap stocks,” and CTVA perfectly fits into that category, signifying its substantial size, stability, and dominance in its industry.
The pure-play agriculture company has fallen 10% from its 52-week high of $58.76, which it hit on May 10. Shares of CTVA are down 3.9% over the past three months, underperforming the broader DB Agriculture Fund Invesco’s (DBA) marginal gains over the same time frame.
In the long term, CTVA has declined 7.6% over the past year, and in 2024, the stock is up 10.4%. By contrast, the DBA is up 17% on a YTD basis and 12.7% over the past 52 weeks.
The stock has been trading below its 50-day moving average since late May but above its 200-day moving average since mid-June.
On May 1, CTVA reported its Q1 results, with a net income of $419 million and adjusted EPS of $0.89, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79. The company’s revenue stood at $4.49 billion, falling short of the Wall Street estimates of $4.56 billion. For fiscal 2024, CTVA expects EPS between $2.70 and $2.90 and revenue between $17.4 billion and $17.7 billion. Shares of CTVA closed up more than 5% in the session following the day the results were released.
Rival FMC Corporation (FMC) has underperformed CTVA. FMC stock has declined 46% in the past 52 weeks and is down 9.4% on a YTD basis.
Despite its recent underperformance compared to other agriculture stocks, analysts are optimistic about CTVA’s prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the 22 analysts covering it, and the mean price target of $62.67 is an 18.4% premium to current levels.
On the date of publication, Dipanjan Banchur did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
