Norges Bank Takes $241.96 Million Position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,413,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $241,958,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.10% of Nutrien as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NTR. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Nutrien by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 11,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $517,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Nutrien by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 7,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Nutrien by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 20.8% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nutrien Stock Performance

NYSE:NTR opened at $50.13 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.59, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.81. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1-year low of $43.70 and a 1-year high of $60.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.02.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.09). Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 2.62%. The firm had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.09 billion. Analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nutrien’s payout ratio is currently 159.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on NTR shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Nutrien from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Nutrien from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Nutrien from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.00.

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.