Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Upgraded by BNP Paribas to "Strong-Buy" Rating

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Nutrien from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Nutrien from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Nutrien in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "sell" rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Nutrien from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Nutrien in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.00.

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Nutrien Trading Up 1.9 %

NTR traded up $0.99 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $52.15. 1,984,565 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,068,171. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock's 50-day moving average is $50.74 and its 200 day moving average is $49.13. Nutrien has a 12 month low of $43.70 and a 12 month high of $60.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.49 billion, a PE ratio of 38.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.77.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.09). Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 2.62%. The business had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.09 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Nutrien will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 159.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nutrien

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NTR. Covea Finance lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Covea Finance now owns 55,600 shares of the company's stock worth $2,485,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,886,376 shares of the company's stock worth $84,367,000 after buying an additional 144,025 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,480,870 shares of the company's stock worth $66,264,000 after buying an additional 80,382 shares during the last quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC bought a new position in Nutrien during the fourth quarter valued at about $654,000. Finally, Abel Hall LLC purchased a new stake in Nutrien during the fourth quarter worth about $276,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company's stock.

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.