In an attempt to boost its already successful sprayer business, Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) recently purchased Mazzotti, a privately-held sprayer manufacturer. With the acquisition, Deere will be able to serve more customers in European markets.
Based in Ravenna, Italy, Mazzotti is known for its innovation as well as knowledge, designs, and expertise in the sprayer industry. The increase in demand for food and the resulting need for precision agriculture drove the company to develop products specifically for new markets.
Post the buyout, Mazzotti will maintain its name, trademark, and commercial agreements. It will also continue to serve customers with high-quality products and services.
Deere has been striking a number of buyout deals of late. In Mar 2016, the company acquired an 80% interest in Hagie Manufacturing, the U.S. market leader in high-clearance sprayers located in Clarion, Iowa. In Feb 2016, it acquired Monosem, the European market leader in precision planters.
In Jun 2017, Deere signed a definitive agreement to acquire the world’s leading road-construction equipment maker Wirtgen, for $5.2 billion. The acquisition will aid Deere’s North America-centric construction business to expand and catapult of the company as an industry leader in global road construction.
Deere has outperformed the Zacks classified Machinery-Farm sub-industry with respect to price performance over the past one year, driven by disciplined cost management and a broad product portfolio. The stock rallied around 53%, while the industry gained 50.8% over the same time frame.
Deere currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Other top-ranked stocks worth considering in the same sector are AGCO Corporation (NYSE:AGCO) , Altra Industrial Motion Corp. (NASDAQ:AIMC) and AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) . All the three stocks flaunt a Zacks Rank #1.
AGCO has an average positive earnings surprise of 40.39% in the trailing four quarters. Altra Industrial Motion generated an average positive earnings surprise of 15.93% in the past four quarters. AptarGroup has an average positive earnings surprise of 1.78% in the last four quarters.
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AptarGroup, Inc. (ATR): Free Stock Analysis Report
Deere & Company (DE): Free Stock Analysis Report
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Altra Industrial Motion Corp. (AIMC): Free Stock Analysis Report
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