Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Short Interest Update

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,110,000 shares, an increase of 150.9% from the February 28th total of 6,420,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.9 days. Approximately 3.3% of the company's stock are sold short.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NTR traded up $0.34 during trading on Monday, hitting $49.90. 1,078,088 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,024,254. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $51.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.02. The company has a market cap of $24.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.39, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.81. Nutrien has a 52-week low of $43.70 and a 52-week 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 announced 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). Nutrien had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The company had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.09 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Nutrien will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Remove Ads

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nutrien's payout ratio is 159.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nutrien

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Nutrien by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,519,340 shares of the company's stock worth $67,949,000 after buying an additional 122,453 shares during the last quarter. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP bought a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the 4th quarter worth about $248,000. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien during the 4th quarter worth about $4,952,000. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co bought a new position in Nutrien during the 4th quarter valued at about $712,000. Finally, Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nutrien in the 4th quarter worth about $1,508,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Nutrien from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Nutrien in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Nutrien from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nutrien currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.00.

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.