Nutrien Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:NTR)

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 137,838 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 3,857% compared to the average daily volume of 3,483 call options.

Nutrien Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE NTR opened at $62.49 on Wednesday. Nutrien has a twelve month low of $43.69 and a twelve month high of $65.08. The stock has a market cap of $30.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.06. Nutrien had a return on equity of 7.54% and a net margin of 6.79%.The firm had revenue of $5.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Nutrien will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Nutrien’s payout ratio is currently 58.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NTR shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nutrien in a report on Monday. National Bankshares started coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Friday, September 5th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Nutrien from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. National Bank Financial started coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Friday, September 5th. They set a “sector perform” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Nutrien in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.17.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nutrien

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 284.0% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 69,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,430,000 after purchasing an additional 51,126 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Nutrien in the 1st quarter valued at $311,000. Covea Finance increased its stake in shares of Nutrien by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter. Covea Finance now owns 73,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,265,000 after buying an additional 10,400 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Nutrien by 1.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 736,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,607,000 after acquiring an additional 7,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Nutrien by 20.2% during the second quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 69,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,051,000 after acquiring an additional 11,704 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

About Nutrien

Nutrien Ltd. is a global fertilizer and agricultural-services company headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The company is publicly traded and operates across the farm input value chain, combining upstream fertilizer production with a broad retail and services platform aimed at supporting crop production worldwide. Nutrien’s business model integrates the manufacture and distribution of crop nutrients with on-the-ground agronomic support for growers and agricultural businesses.

Nutrien produces and supplies the three primary fertilizer nutrients—potash, nitrogen and phosphate—through its wholesale operations, and markets a wide range of crop inputs including seeds and crop protection products.