Swiss National Bank Increases Stock Position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,495,836 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 11,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.30% of Nutrien worth $71,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NTR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nutrien by 9.6% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 27,400 shares of the company's stock worth $1,488,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Nutrien by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 932 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Nutrien in the first quarter worth approximately $275,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Nutrien by 25.7% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 724,267 shares of the company's stock worth $39,403,000 after buying an additional 148,226 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Nutrien Trading Up 0.7 %

NTR stock traded up $0.34 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $45.90. The company had a trading volume of 888,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,969,951. The stock has a market cap of $22.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.58, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.98 and a 200-day moving average of $50.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Nutrien Ltd. has a one year low of $44.65 and a one year high of $60.87.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. Nutrien's quarterly revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.939 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.18%. This is a boost from Nutrien's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nutrien's payout ratio is currently 144.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on NTR shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Nutrien from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. HSBC downgraded shares of Nutrien from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Nutrien from $66.00 to $59.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Nutrien from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $60.33.

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.