The company’s latest dividend increase was announced in May 2014 when the Board of Directors approved a 17.60% increase in the quarterly dividend to 60 cents /share. "Deere is well-positioned to benefit long-term from global trends that hold great promise for the company's customers and investors," said Samuel R. Allen, chairman and chief executive officer. "Our dividend increase reflects our confidence in Deere & Company's ability to generate strong cash flow throughout the cycle. We remain committed to our plans for profitable growth and for returning cash to shareholders."
Over the past decade this dividend growth stock has delivered an annualized total return of 12.10% to its shareholders.
The company has managed to deliver a 21.30% average increase in annual EPS over the past decade. Deere is expected to earn $8.55 per share in 2014 and $7.73 per share in 2015. In comparison, the company earned $9.09/share in 2013.
Deere also has an impressive record of consistent share repurchases. Between 2004 and 2014, the number of shares declined from 506 million to 379 million.
I have been biased against Deere, because it looks like a cyclical company, which managed to get lucky and ride a profitable trend over the past decade. As most of you are aware of, the past 10 – 15 years have been characterized by the rapid growth in emerging economies, which has lifted the boats of a lot of other companies. I am afraid that Deere might keep capitalizing on the those emerging markets, but at some point in time, it would have to go back to being a cyclical company with cyclical earnings. This could be a decade down the road, or could occur within the next few years. As a dividend growth investor, my goal is not only to find a cheap stock with a good dividend, but also a company that can grow earnings over time. If earnings per share are not increased over the next decade, most of dividend growth will come from increases in the dividend payout ratio, which is seldom a good sign for dividend income stability. I simply do not view Deere as the type of set it and forget it dividend growth stock that I can pass on to my heirs. That being said, it could still be a profitable investment for someone who buys today, given the low valuation, even if earnings do not increase by much. That would be true, as long as earnings per share do not decrease.
Long-term prospects could be brighter than I imagine however. An increasing world population should continue to exert pressure on food supplies, which in effect could raise the demand for new efficient farm machinery. However, if commodity pricing pressures farmer’s profits, demand for equipment could soften.
New products could be another boost for farming equipment, as is a cycle to upgrade old equipment over time, in an effort to boost productivity. The company has strong position in North America, with an established brand name and a 50% market share, which should provide it with a good scale of operations.
I also like the fact that management seems very shareholder friendly, as evidenced by their commitment to dividend growth over the past 20 years, the consistent share buybacks, and the fact that operations are run pretty well. For example, the finance division has pretty low loan losses, which is encouraging and shows that proper credit evaluation is being done before lending money to farmers.
I also like the fact that the largest shareholders is Cascade Investments LLC, which is the holding company that holds the investment portfolio of Bill Gates. I have been reading some about Bill Gates, and have found that his holding company is managed by Michael Larson, who is a very successful value investor.
The annual dividend payment has increased by 16.30% per year over the past decade, which is lower than the growth in EPS.
A 16% growth in distributions translates into the dividend payment doubling every seven years on average. If we check the dividend history, going as far back as 1989, we could see that Deere has actually managed to double dividends every eight years on average. What makes this analysis tricky however the fact that the company cut dividends in 1982 is, and the annual dividend didn’t exceed the 1982 highs till 1990. The annual dividend from 1982 didn’t really double until 2005.
Over the past decade, the dividend payout ratio has mostly remained low below 25%, with the exception of 2009. A lower payout is always a plus, since it leaves room for consistent dividend growth minimizing the impact of short-term fluctuations in earnings.
Deere has managed to increase return on equity from 30.60% in 2004 to 41.30% in 2013. Rather than focus on absolute values for this indicator, I generally want to see at least a stable return on equity over time.
Currently, the stock looks cheap, as it trades at a forward P/E of 10.40 and a current yield of 2.60%. I believe that the business is more exposed to economic cycles than the typical dividend growth stock that I usually focus on. However, when a business is cheap, it can still generate shareholder value even if there is only a small improvement. With Deere, the $8 billion share buyback could be one catalyst that could result in better returns going forward. As a result, I initiated a small position in the stock this week.
Full Disclosure: Long DE
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