Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Upgraded by Piper Sandler to “Overweight” Rating

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) from an underweight rating to an overweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Piper Sandler currently has $58.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $50.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group cut shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. CIBC reissued an “outperformer” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (down from $60.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Nutrien from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $40.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.21.

Nutrien Stock Up 5.6 %

Shares of NTR opened at $51.19 on Monday. Nutrien has a 12 month low of $43.69 and a 12 month high of $60.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $46.88 and its 200-day moving average is $47.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.21 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 2.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Nutrien will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.939 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.34%. Nutrien’s payout ratio is 144.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goodman Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Nutrien by 4.6% during the third quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 253,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,201,000 after purchasing an additional 11,058 shares during the last quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 494,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,777,000 after buying an additional 32,541 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,742,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,812,000 after buying an additional 157,932 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 564,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,139,000 after buying an additional 23,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 335.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 70,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,379,000 after buying an additional 54,138 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is currently 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.