Natixis Acquires 18,521 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Natixis boosted its position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 22.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 101,808 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,521 shares during the period. Natixis' holdings in Nutrien were worth $4,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,284,000. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. raised its position in Nutrien by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 221,318 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,904,000 after buying an additional 3,414 shares during the last quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC lifted its stake in Nutrien by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 201,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,006,000 after acquiring an additional 37,348 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Inc. CA purchased a new position in Nutrien during the 4th quarter worth $15,221,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,124,178 shares of the company's stock worth $50,307,000 after acquiring an additional 3,589 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Nutrien Stock Performance

NTR stock traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $54.02. 1,708,989 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,094,756. Nutrien Ltd. has a 52 week low of $43.70 and a 52 week high of $60.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $51.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.40. 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 $26.40 billion, a PE ratio of 39.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 159.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NTR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Nutrien from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. CIBC upped their target price on Nutrien from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperformer" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Nutrien from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Nutrien from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their target price on Nutrien from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.27.

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.