Sanctuary Advisors LLC Sells 8,794 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,787 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,794 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $1,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NTR. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Nutrien by 15.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,354,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $719,668,000 after acquiring an additional 1,794,333 shares during the last quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 164.4% during the 3rd quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP now owns 10,683,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $513,437,000 after purchasing an additional 6,642,075 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,006,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $458,522,000 after purchasing an additional 167,312 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 5,990,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,970,000 after purchasing an additional 446,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,145,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,985,000 after purchasing an additional 399,348 shares during the period. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nutrien Price Performance

NTR stock opened at $44.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.95 billion, a PE ratio of 29.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $47.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.65. Nutrien Ltd. has a one year low of $43.87 and a one year high of $60.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 2.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.939 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.43%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 144.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. CIBC restated an “outperformer” rating and set a $55.00 target price (down from $60.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James upgraded Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer began coverage on Nutrien in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group cut Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.95.

Nutrien Profile

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.