ARGA Investment Management LP Cuts Stock Position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

ARGA Investment Management LP trimmed its position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,806,919 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,852 shares during the quarter. Nutrien accounts for approximately 7.6% of ARGA Investment Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. ARGA Investment Management LP owned approximately 0.97% of Nutrien worth $230,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NTR. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its position in Nutrien by 2.3% in the second quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 9,069 shares of the company's stock worth $461,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. FFT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Nutrien by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,220 shares of the company's stock worth $1,488,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC lifted its position in Nutrien by 2.4% during the second quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 9,791 shares of the company's stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Nutrien by 6.5% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,309 shares of the company's stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Nutrien by 1.1% in the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 23,995 shares of the company's stock worth $1,222,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on NTR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Nutrien from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Nutrien from $66.00 to $59.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. 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 report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Nutrien from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nutrien currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $60.33.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NTR stock traded up $0.57 on Friday, reaching $46.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 933,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,140,678. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $47.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.71. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1 year low of $44.65 and a 1 year high of $60.87. The company has a market capitalization of $23.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.82. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 2.79%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.939 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 8.05%. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio is 144.97%.

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.