Blume Capital Management Inc. Takes Position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Blume Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 15,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $892,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Townsend & Associates Inc raised its position in shares of Nutrien by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 163,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,125,000 after acquiring an additional 35,690 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Nutrien by 2.5% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,361,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $394,047,000 after buying an additional 154,159 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 64.6% in the third quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 75,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,690,000 after acquiring an additional 29,819 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,433,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Nutrien by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,262,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $572,062,000 after purchasing an additional 48,230 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nutrien Stock Up 4.5 %

Shares of NTR stock traded up $2.50 on Thursday, reaching $57.93. 1,602,136 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,952,360. The company has a market capitalization of $28.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.17. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $53.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.62. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12-month low of $47.90 and a 12-month high of $69.12.

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

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Nutrien in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Nutrien from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Nutrien from $77.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Piper Sandler cut shares of Nutrien from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Nutrien from $86.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.50.

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.