Topic: How To Invest

May I get your latest advice on Deere & Co. (DE)? Thanks, Pat, for all your advice.

Article Excerpt

A: Deere & Co., $407.65, symbol DE on New York (Shares outstanding: 298.2 million; Market cap: $121.6 billion; Manufacturing & Industry sector; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.deere.com), started up in 1837 when its founder, John Deere, began making polished-steel plows at his blacksmith shop in Grand Detour, Illinois. Today, the company is the world’s largest maker of agricultural equipment, with manufacturing plants in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Spain, South Africa, Mexico and Argentina. In addition to John Deere, its top brands include Frontier, Kemper, Green Systems and SABO. Deere mainly sells these products through independent dealers and home-improvement chains like Home Depot and Lowe’s. It has four divisions: Production and precision agriculture (43% of revenue) sells to production-scale growers of large grains, small grains, cotton and sugarcane. The segment’s main products include large and certain mid-size tractors, combines, cotton pickers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, and soil preparation, seeding, application, and crop care equipment. Small agriculture and turf (26% of revenue) sells to dairy…