Moerus Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Moerus Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 640,502 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 72,061 shares during the quarter. Nutrien accounts for approximately 10.5% of Moerus Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Moerus Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Nutrien worth $28,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTR. Prudential PLC raised its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 15,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Nutrien by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,022,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,202,000 after buying an additional 702,948 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 394,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,620,000 after buying an additional 54,481 shares during the period. Colrain Capital LLC bought a new stake in Nutrien during the 4th quarter valued at $3,863,000. Finally, Summit Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien in the 4th quarter valued at $4,189,000. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NTR shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Nutrien from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Nutrien from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Nutrien from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $40.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.00.

Nutrien Stock Down 6.4 %

Nutrien stock opened at $47.44 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $23.19 billion, a PE ratio of 34.63, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.77. Nutrien Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $43.70 and a fifty-two week high of $60.87.

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

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is presently 159.12%.

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.