Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 29,190 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 25.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 142,879 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,190 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $7,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 43.8% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 5,034 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nutrien during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $250,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Nutrien by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Nutrien by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 134,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,030,000 after acquiring an additional 28,315 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NTR. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Nutrien from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Nutrien from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Barclays increased their price target on Nutrien from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Nutrien in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Nutrien from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.61.

Nutrien Stock Down 1.6%

Nutrien stock opened at $59.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.18 billion, a PE ratio of 56.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.80. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12 month low of $43.70 and a 12 month high of $65.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.16 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.08% and a net margin of 2.05%. The business’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is presently 203.74%.

Nutrien 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.