Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on NTR. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on Nutrien from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Nutrien from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nutrien has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.88.

Nutrien Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE NTR opened at $71.15 on Tuesday. Nutrien has a one year low of $45.78 and a one year high of $73.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $34.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.18 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $62.59 and its 200-day moving average is $59.47.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $5.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 7.54% and a net margin of 6.79%.Nutrien’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nutrien will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is 58.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nutrien

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Smith Moore & CO. grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 2.2% in the third quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 7,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Nutrien by 0.6% in the third quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 30,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Nutrien by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 10,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $619,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in shares of Nutrien by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 4,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Nutrien by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $772,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.