Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.3889.

Several brokerages recently commented on NTR. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Nutrien from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. National Bank Financial began coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Friday, September 5th. They issued a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Nutrien from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Nutrien from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Nutrien from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th.

Nutrien Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NTR opened at $57.74 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.84. The company has a market capitalization of $28.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Nutrien has a 1-year low of $43.69 and a 1-year high of $65.08.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.24. Nutrien had a net margin of 5.25% and a return on equity of 6.51%. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nutrien will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 29th. Nutrien’s payout ratio is presently 78.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Nutrien by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 47,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,349,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Nutrien by 42.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Blume Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Nutrien by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC increased its position in Nutrien by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 59,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,438,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. increased its position in Nutrien by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 38,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,280,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.