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

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 30.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,022,551 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 702,948 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 0.62% of Nutrien worth $137,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the 4th quarter valued at about $241,958,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Nutrien by 159.5% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,435,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $242,976,000 after acquiring an additional 3,341,169 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its position in Nutrien by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,043,590 shares of the company's stock valued at $270,396,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236,671 shares in the last quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP grew its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP now owns 11,693,137 shares of the company's stock worth $523,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,895 shares during the period. Finally, Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Nutrien by 462.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 815,000 shares of the company's stock worth $36,471,000 after acquiring an additional 670,000 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Nutrien from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "sell" rating and a $53.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Nutrien from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Nutrien from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Nutrien from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.00.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NTR stock traded up $2.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $51.05. 2,557,390 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,069,438. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.13. The company has a market cap of $24.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.77. 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 current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.09 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 2.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio is presently 159.12%.

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.