Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 1,792,900 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board trimmed its position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,502,128 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,792,900 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 1.53% of Nutrien worth $335,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covea Finance boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 increased its position in Nutrien by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,480,870 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,264,000 after buying an additional 80,382 shares in the last quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nutrien during the fourth quarter valued at $654,000. Finally, Abel Hall LLC bought a new stake in Nutrien in the fourth quarter worth $276,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NTR traded down $0.77 during trading on Friday, hitting $52.50. The company had a trading volume of 2,808,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,084,802. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12 month low of $43.70 and a 12 month 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 $25.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.26.

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

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.15%. Nutrien's payout ratio is 159.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on Nutrien from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Nutrien from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Nutrien from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $40.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays increased their target price on Nutrien from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Nutrien to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.40.

Nutrien 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.