Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Hits New 12-Month Low - Should You Sell?

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $44.45 and last traded at $44.54, with a volume of 216696 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on NTR shares. Raymond James upgraded Nutrien from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Securities dropped their target price 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. Oppenheimer began coverage on Nutrien in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Nutrien from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Nutrien from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $66.00 to $51.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $58.95.

Nutrien Price Performance

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $47.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.78. The stock has a market cap of $21.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.5 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.939 per share. This is an increase from Nutrien's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio is currently 144.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nutrien

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Silchester International Investors LLP raised its position in shares of Nutrien by 164.4% in the 3rd quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP now owns 10,683,242 shares of the company's stock worth $513,437,000 after acquiring an additional 6,642,075 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Nutrien in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $150,181,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Nutrien by 15.5% in the second 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 period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its holdings in Nutrien by 78.8% in the third quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 2,495,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100,000 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 34.0% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,066,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,385,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,763 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company's stock.

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.