Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Downgraded by UBS Group

UBS Group cut shares of Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. UBS Group currently has $51.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $66.00.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on NTR. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Nutrien from a hold rating to a moderate sell rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. HSBC cut shares of Nutrien from a hold rating to a reduce rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Nutrien from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and reduced their target price for the company from $62.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, TD Securities dropped their price target on Nutrien from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $60.67.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NTR opened at $49.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $24.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.66, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.26. Nutrien has a fifty-two week low of $44.65 and a fifty-two week high of $62.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.40.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $10.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.82 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.91% and a net margin of 2.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Nutrien will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is currently 135.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nutrien

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 1.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 36,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,755,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in shares of Nutrien by 58.1% during the third quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 2,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares during the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Nutrien during the third quarter valued at about $96,000. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 4.3% during the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 564,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,139,000 after purchasing an additional 23,117 shares during the period. Finally, Advocate Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 1.7% in the third quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 134,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,456,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

About Nutrien

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.