Covestor Ltd Reduces Stock Position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Covestor Ltd reduced its stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 28.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 670 shares of the company’s stock after selling 262 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NTR. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Nutrien in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Nutrien in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in Nutrien by 50.0% in the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 900 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden bought a new position in Nutrien in the second quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new position in Nutrien in the second quarter worth about $52,000. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nutrien Price Performance

NTR stock opened at $46.19 on Friday. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12 month low of $44.65 and a 12 month high of $60.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.47. The stock has a market cap of $22.81 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.82.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 6.99%. Nutrien’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.939 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nutrien’s payout ratio is 144.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NTR shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Nutrien from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Nutrien from $66.00 to $59.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Nutrien from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $62.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $66.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.33.

Nutrien Company Profile

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.