Nutrien Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:NTR)

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 12,272 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 180% compared to the average volume of 4,377 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Nutrien from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Nutrien from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. HSBC lowered shares of Nutrien from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Nutrien from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Nutrien from $66.00 to $59.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.67.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NTR stock traded up $2.42 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $50.78. The stock had a trading volume of 3,604,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,949,011. The company has a market cap of $25.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Nutrien has a 12-month low of $44.65 and a 12-month high of $60.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.69.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $10.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.82 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 2.97% and a return on equity of 6.91%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nutrien will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio is presently 135.00%.

Institutional Trading of Nutrien

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nutrien during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 50.0% in the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 900 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 33.3% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 932 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden purchased a new stake in Nutrien in the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.10% of the company's stock.

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.