Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Given New $90.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) had its target price lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $85.00 to $90.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Nutrien from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price objective on Nutrien from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank raised their target price on Nutrien from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Nutrien from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Nutrien from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.11.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NTR opened at $77.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $71.26 and a 200-day moving average of $63.06. The company has a market cap of $37.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.34. Nutrien has a 1 year low of $45.78 and a 1 year high of $85.36.

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

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Nutrien’s payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nutrien

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 440.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,338,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,008,713,000 after buying an additional 13,313,817 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Nutrien during the second quarter worth about $395,842,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Nutrien by 48.5% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 11,944,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $696,058,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900,755 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new stake in Nutrien in the second quarter worth about $150,416,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 8,928,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,559,673 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.