Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Shares Bought by Townsend & Associates Inc

Townsend & Associates Inc boosted its position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 582,477 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 19,631 shares during the quarter. Nutrien makes up 2.7% of Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Townsend & Associates Inc owned about 0.12% of Nutrien worth $26,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Silchester International Investors LLP lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP now owns 11,693,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $523,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009,895 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,043,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,396,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236,671 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 4.1% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,232,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,380,000 after purchasing an additional 165,582 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 11.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,220,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,830,000 after purchasing an additional 447,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Nutrien during the third quarter valued at $150,181,000. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $56.00 price objective (up from $55.00) on shares of Nutrien in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Nutrien from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James raised shares of Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Nutrien from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nutrien has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.39.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NTR stock opened at $52.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $49.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.24. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12 month low of $43.69 and a 12 month high of $60.87. The company has a market capitalization of $25.80 billion, a PE ratio of 38.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.81.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.09). Nutrien had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The company had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.09 billion. Analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is presently 157.67%.

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.