Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Upgraded to Hold at KeyCorp

KeyCorp upgraded shares of Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday,Zacks reports.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on NTR. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Nutrien in a report on Monday, August 10th. National Bank Financial dropped their price objective on Nutrien from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Nutrien from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Berenberg Bank set a $65.00 price target on Nutrien and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $81.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.15.

Nutrien Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:NTR traded down $0.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $78.47. 2,268,774 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,123,024. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.88, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Nutrien has a 12-month low of $53.03 and a 12-month high of $85.36.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $10.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.44 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 8.88%. Nutrien’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Nutrien will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 29th. Nutrien’s payout ratio is presently 44.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nutrien

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nutrien during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,363,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the second quarter worth about $220,942,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Nutrien by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,833,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,217,000 after acquiring an additional 309,025 shares in the last quarter. Hikari Power Ltd acquired a new position in Nutrien during the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,443,000. Finally, Black Creek Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Nutrien by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,553,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,796,000 after purchasing an additional 185,864 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nutrien Company Profile

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) is a global provider of crop inputs and agricultural services. The company produces and distributes essential nutrients, including potash, nitrogen and phosphate products, which farmers use to support crop growth and improve yields.

Through its retail operations, Nutrien supplies farmers with seed, crop protection products, fertilizers and agronomic services. Its retail network also provides farm management recommendations, application services and other solutions designed to help growers manage their operations and use agricultural inputs more efficiently.

Nutrien was formed in 2018 through the merger of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan and Agrium.