Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Stock Price Down 3.9% – Time to Sell?

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) shares were down 3.9% on Monday . The company traded as low as $78.61 and last traded at $79.66. Approximately 919,432 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 3,467,422 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.85.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on NTR. Morgan Stanley upgraded Nutrien from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $70.00 to $77.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Nutrien from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Nutrien from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Nutrien from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.47.

Nutrien Stock Down 5.9%

The stock has a market capitalization of $37.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.04). Nutrien had a net margin of 8.43% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The firm had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is 46.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 310.7% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 423 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Sfam LLC bought a new stake in Nutrien during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Eastern Bank lifted its stake in Nutrien by 133.0% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in Nutrien by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Company Profile

Nutrien Ltd. is a global fertilizer and agricultural-services company headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The company is publicly traded and operates across the farm input value chain, combining upstream fertilizer production with a broad retail and services platform aimed at supporting crop production worldwide. Nutrien’s business model integrates the manufacture and distribution of crop nutrients with on-the-ground agronomic support for growers and agricultural businesses.

Nutrien produces and supplies the three primary fertilizer nutrients—potash, nitrogen and phosphate—through its wholesale operations, and markets a wide range of crop inputs including seeds and crop protection products.