Company Update: E I du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) – DuPont to cut 1,700 jobs from US headquarters

[AFP] – US chemicals giant DuPont announced plans Tuesday to cut 1,700 jobs from its headquarters as it restructures ahead of its planned merger with Dow Chemical. The layoffs, tied to a $700 million cost-cutting plan announced by DuPont on December 11, will have a “significant” impact on Delaware, the mid-Atlantic state where the company is based, said chief executive Ed Breen in a message to employees reviewed by AFP. The job cuts reflect “the urgent need to restructure our cost base and, as part of that effort, reduce our corporate overhead costs so that we can remain competitive,” Breen said. Read more on this. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DD) , currently valued at $59.19B, opened at $66.70. During today’s session, DD traded between $66.54 to $67.88 and has traded between $47.11 and $76.59 over the past year. Priced at 23.97x this year’s forecasted earnings, DD shares are relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 15.34x forward p/e ratio. And for those looking to make a return holding the stock, the company pays shareholders $1.52 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.35%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 18 sell-side analysts are looking at $0.27 per share, which would be $0.30 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.26 sequential decrease. In looking at the bigger picture, the full-year EPS estimate of $2.77 would be a $0.59 setback when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $5.39 Billion. If realized, that would be a 26.96% decrease over the year-ago quarter. Recently, BofA/Merrill upgraded DD from Underperform to Buy (Dec 18, 2015). Previously, JP Morgan upgraded DD from Neutral to Overweight. When considering if perhaps the stock is under or overvalued, the average price target is $71.50, which is 7.20% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:DD) Similar Articles: Company Update: E I du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) – DuPont Displays Opens OLED Materials Scale-Up Facility for Next Generation TVs Market Update: E I du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) – DuPont Names Timothy P. Glenn as President, DuPont Crop Protection Market Update: E I du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) – DuPont Names New DuPont Fellows