Nutrien Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:NTR)

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 8,937 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 41% compared to the typical daily volume of 6,344 put options.

Nutrien Stock Down 0.0 %

Nutrien stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 415,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,943,120. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.89. Nutrien has a 52-week low of $47.90 and a 52-week high of $69.12.

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

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is 85.38%.

Institutional Trading of Nutrien

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the third quarter worth $250,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Nutrien by 0.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,487,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,866,000 after acquiring an additional 3,875 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 3.4% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 244,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,165,000 after buying an additional 7,956 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 7,175,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,187,000 after acquiring an additional 933,517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Nutrien by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,540,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,364,000 after buying an additional 109,778 shares during the period. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Nutrien from $77.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Nutrien from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.25.

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.