Deere Announces Regular Quarterly Dividend

In a press release today, Deere (DE) announced the key dates for the first quarter of 2019’s dividend. To be eligible for this dividend, investors must hold Deere shares as of the close of March 29, 2019. The dividend is expected to be paid on May 1, 2019.

Deere has declared a dividend of $0.76 per share, which represents an increase of 26.7% over the previous year and no change quarter-over-quarter. Deere’s peers Caterpillar (CAT), Stanley Black & Decker (SWK), and Illinois Tool Works (ITW) declared their latest dividends of $0.86, $0.66, and $1.00 per share. Deere, at the end of its first quarter of fiscal 2019, had 322.7 million in outstanding shares. Assuming that Deere doesn’t buy back any shares until the ex-date, then Deere will be spending $245.25 million in dividend payments.

DE’s current dividend yield stands at 1.86%. Deere’s dividend yield appears to be a bit unattractive to dividend investors. Risk-free, one-year Treasury bonds have a yield of 2.55%, which indicates that DE’s dividend is low and so investors may not view Deere as an alternative investment option. DE’s dividend yield trend is now showing signs of stability after it saw a continuous decline in its dividend yield.

At around 1:30 ET, Deere was trading 0.25% lower. Investors can access Deere indirectly by investing in the iShares MSCI Global Agriculture Producers ETF (VEGI), which has invested 15.2% of its portfolio in Deere as of February 26.