Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $67.95.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Nutrien from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Nutrien from $86.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Nutrien from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, February 23rd.

Nutrien Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE NTR opened at $52.55 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Nutrien has a 52 week low of $47.90 and a 52 week high of $70.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $53.23 and its 200 day moving average is $54.03. The company has a market cap of $25.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.89.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.35). The company had revenue of $5.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.36 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 8.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nutrien will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is 85.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nutrien

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTR. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Nutrien in the 4th quarter worth approximately $332,716,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Nutrien by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,853,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,881,000 after acquiring an additional 2,322,679 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its holdings in Nutrien by 120.2% in the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 3,780,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,421,000 after acquiring an additional 2,063,881 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Nutrien by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 9,226,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,309,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in Nutrien by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 12,017,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $676,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,960,162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Company 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.