Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Raised to “Buy” at Berenberg Bank

Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $66.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $60.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on NTR. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Nutrien from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. CIBC lowered their price target on shares of Nutrien from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a buy rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Nutrien from $77.00 to $69.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Nutrien from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $68.25.

Nutrien Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Nutrien stock opened at $52.50 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.88. Nutrien has a 12-month low of $47.90 and a 12-month high of $69.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $25.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.89.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.35). The business had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.36 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 8.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nutrien will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. This is an increase from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nutrien

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Nutrien during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 904.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the period. Evolution Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.