Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Invests $2.24 Million in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 46,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,237,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Silchester International Investors LLP raised its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 164.4% in the third quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP now owns 10,683,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $513,437,000 after buying an additional 6,642,075 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Nutrien during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $150,181,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Nutrien by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,354,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $719,668,000 after acquiring an additional 1,794,333 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 78.8% in the 3rd quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 2,495,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 34.0% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,066,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,385,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,763 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NTR. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. TD Securities dropped their target price on Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $62.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a report on Friday, September 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.95.

Nutrien Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Nutrien stock opened at $48.18 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $47.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.09. The company has a market capitalization of $23.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1 year low of $44.65 and a 1 year high of $60.87.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $5.35 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.939 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.80%. Nutrien’s payout ratio is 144.97%.

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.