Guardian Partners Inc. Invests $14.61 Million in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 305,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,606,000. Nutrien makes up 1.5% of Guardian Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Guardian Partners Inc. owned about 0.06% of Nutrien as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nutrien during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Nutrien by 331.0% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Nutrien by 1,437.5% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Nutrien in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Nutrien by 96.7% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on Nutrien from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Nutrien from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. CIBC increased their price objective on Nutrien from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Nutrien in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nutrien has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.13.

Nutrien Price Performance

NTR stock opened at $52.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.68 billion, a PE ratio of 38.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.67 and its 200-day moving average is $48.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1 year low of $43.70 and a 1 year high of $60.87.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.09 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 2.62%. Equities research analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 159.12%.

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.