Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $44.45 and last traded at $44.54, with a volume of 216696 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NTR. Raymond James upgraded Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Nutrien in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. CIBC reissued an “outperformer” rating and issued a $55.00 target price (down previously from $60.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.95.

Nutrien Trading Down 1.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $47.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.78. The firm has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.80.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 2.79%. The company’s revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.939 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.52%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.97%.

Institutional Trading of Nutrien

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the third quarter worth $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Nutrien during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Andra AP fonden acquired a new position in shares of Nutrien during the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Nutrien during the 2nd quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,000. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

About Nutrien

Nutrien Ltd. provides crop inputs and services. The company operates through four segments: Retail, Potash, Nitrogen, and Phosphate. The Retail segment distributes crop nutrients, crop protection products, seeds, and merchandise products. The Potash segment provides granular and standard potash products.