The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Reduces Holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 18.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,551,512 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,228,417 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 1.12% of Nutrien worth $266,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 9,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $461,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. FFT Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,488,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 9,791 shares of the company's stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,309 shares of the company's stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 23,995 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,222,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Nutrien Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:NTR traded down $0.92 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $45.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,750,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,970,386. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1 year low of $44.65 and a 1 year high of $60.87. The firm's 50 day moving average is $47.99 and its 200-day moving average is $49.94. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $22.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 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 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 firm had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.939 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.19%. This is an increase from Nutrien's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 144.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group lowered shares of Nutrien from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $51.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Nutrien from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on 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.