Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $59.39.

NTR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James raised shares of Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Nutrien from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $56.00 price target (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday.

Nutrien Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE NTR opened at $52.68 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.23. 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 has a 1 year low of $43.69 and a 1 year high of $60.87. The company has a market cap of $25.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.45, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.81.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.09). Nutrien had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The company had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.09 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Nutrien will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is currently 157.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nutrien

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Nutrien in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Nutrien by 331.0% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 625 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Nutrien by 1,437.5% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 738 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Nutrien in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Nutrien by 96.7% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.