Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,830,000 shares, a decrease of 18.5% from the March 31st total of 4,700,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,950,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Nutrien Trading Up 1.0 %

NTR stock traded up $0.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $52.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,227,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,711,381. The business has a 50-day moving average of $53.23 and a 200-day moving average of $54.03. Nutrien has a one year low of $47.90 and a one year high of $70.07. The stock has a market cap of $25.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.35). Nutrien had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 8.59%. The company had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Nutrien will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on NTR shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James lowered shares of Nutrien from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 12th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Nutrien from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $54.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Nutrien in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.95.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nutrien

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 42,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,347,000 after buying an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 245.9% during the 1st quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 50,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,718,000 after buying an additional 35,583 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 21,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 1,323 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Nutrien by 13.3% during the first quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nutrien during the first quarter worth approximately $381,000. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.