Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 115,430 shares of the company's stock after selling 75,328 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Nutrien were worth $5,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 3.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,781,287 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,020,012,000 after purchasing an additional 570,912 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Nutrien by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,354,385 shares of the company's stock worth $719,668,000 after acquiring an additional 1,794,333 shares during the last quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP raised its stake in Nutrien by 164.4% during the 3rd quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP now owns 10,683,242 shares of the company's stock worth $513,437,000 after buying an additional 6,642,075 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 1.9% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,006,528 shares of the company's stock worth $458,522,000 after acquiring an additional 167,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its stake in Nutrien by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 5,990,374 shares of the company's stock worth $304,970,000 after purchasing an additional 446,340 shares during the period. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NTR shares. UBS Group downgraded Nutrien from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $66.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. HSBC downgraded shares of Nutrien from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Nutrien from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Nutrien from $66.00 to $59.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, TD Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.33.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NTR traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $46.70. 1,004,972 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,970,791. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.25. Nutrien Ltd. has a 52-week low of $44.65 and a 52-week 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 company has a market cap of $23.07 billion, a PE ratio of 30.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.82.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 2.79%. The firm had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.939 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Nutrien's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nutrien's payout ratio is presently 144.97%.

Nutrien Company 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.