Nutrien Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:NTR)

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 14,187 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 88% compared to the average daily volume of 7,544 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on NTR shares. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Nutrien from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 12th. Zacks Research lowered Nutrien from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price target on shares of Nutrien from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Nutrien from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.65.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nutrien

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Nutrien by 65.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 25,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,253,000 after buying an additional 9,950 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the 1st quarter worth about $516,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the 2nd quarter worth about $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Nutrien

Here are the key news stories impacting Nutrien this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks raised a couple of near‑term quarter forecasts (Q3 2026 to $0.75 from $0.72; Q2 2027 to $1.87 from $1.84), which slightly offsets cuts elsewhere and could support near‑term earnings visibility. MarketBeat Zacks upgrades
• Neutral Sentiment: Mizuho reiterated a Hold on NTR (reported as “Gets a Hold”), a neutral signal that suggests no immediate change in sell‑side conviction. Nutrien (NTR) Gets a Hold from Mizuho Securities
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put buying: traders purchased ~14,187 put contracts on Friday (about 88% above the average put volume), signaling increased hedging or directional bearish bets that can amplify downside pressure on the stock. Options flow report
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research issued a string of downward revisions across multiple periods — trimming EPS for Q2 2026, Q4 2026, Q1 2027, Q4 2027 and lowering FY2026–FY2028 estimates (while keeping a Hold rating). The cuts reduce near‑ and medium‑term earnings expectations and likely prompted some investor selling. Zacks still cites a consensus full‑year figure (reported there) but has lowered several company forecasts. MarketBeat — Zacks estimate revisions

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NTR opened at $70.64 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.70. The firm has a market cap of $33.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 0.69. Nutrien has a 12-month low of $51.98 and a 12-month high of $85.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.04). Nutrien had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 8.43%.The company had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Nutrien will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This is an increase from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.21%.

Nutrien Company Profile

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.