Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $58.67.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on NTR shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Nutrien from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group lowered Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Nutrien from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. TD Securities dropped their price objective on Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nutrien

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Nutrien during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 331.0% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 625 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 96.7% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the second quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,000. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nutrien Stock Performance

NYSE:NTR opened at $52.57 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.98. Nutrien has a 52-week low of $43.69 and a 52-week high of $60.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.81 billion, a PE ratio of 35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.81.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 6.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Analysts forecast that Nutrien will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.939 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.15%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is 144.97%.

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.