Investors Research Corp Acquires 4,365 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Investors Research Corp boosted its holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 19.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,623 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,365 shares during the period. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $1,280,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NTR. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Nutrien during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 50.0% in the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 900 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Nutrien by 33.3% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden bought a new position in Nutrien in the second quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Price Performance

NTR traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $46.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 59,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,966,607. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12 month low of $44.65 and a 12 month high of $60.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $47.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.25. The stock has a market cap of $22.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.82.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 6.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.939 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 144.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NTR shares. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group cut shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Nutrien from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $69.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Nutrien from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three investment 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.33.

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.