Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 9.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,319,603 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 198,620 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 0.47% of Nutrien worth $112,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 301.0% in the 2nd quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 272,669 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,882,000 after acquiring an additional 204,664 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 28,622 shares of the company's stock worth $1,457,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. now owns 6,871 shares of the company's stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its holdings in Nutrien by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 9,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $461,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Nutrien from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Securities dropped their price target on shares of Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. CIBC reissued an "outperformer" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (down from $60.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James upgraded Nutrien from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Nutrien from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nutrien currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $58.95.

Nutrien Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NTR traded down $1.46 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $44.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,039,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,959,375. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $47.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.80. Nutrien Ltd. has a 52 week low of $44.65 and a 52 week high of $60.87. The company has a market capitalization of $22.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

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 the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.939 per share. This is a boost from Nutrien's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio is 144.97%.

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.