Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Stake Lessened by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,775 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,271 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $2,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. First Pacific Financial grew its stake in Nutrien by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 12,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc grew its position in Nutrien by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 8,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC increased its stake in Nutrien by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC now owns 5,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co. lifted its position in Nutrien by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 50,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,100,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meixler Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NTR traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $52.34. The stock had a trading volume of 1,125,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,967,578. Nutrien Ltd. has a twelve month low of $47.90 and a twelve month high of $69.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business’s fifty day moving average is $53.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.88. The company has a market cap of $25.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.89.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.35). The business had revenue of $5.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.36 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 8.59%. Nutrien’s revenue was down 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NTR. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Nutrien from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. CIBC reduced their price target on Nutrien from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Nutrien in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Nutrien from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $58.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.25.

Nutrien 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.