Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Shares Sold by M&G Plc

M&G PLC lessened its stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 58.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,264 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,922 shares during the period. M&G PLC's holdings in Nutrien were worth $1,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Nutrien during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 50.0% during the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 900 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Nutrien by 33.3% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 932 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien in the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Nutrien Price Performance

NTR traded down $0.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $48.32. 2,325,769 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,951,724. The company has a market capitalization of $23.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1 year low of $44.65 and a 1 year high of $60.87. The business's 50 day moving average price is $47.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.61.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). Nutrien had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 6.99%. The business had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.939 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.77%. This is a positive change from Nutrien's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 144.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on NTR. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Nutrien from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Nutrien from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Nutrien from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group lowered shares of Nutrien from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on Nutrien from $66.00 to $59.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.44.

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.