Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Up 69.4% in September

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 12,813,233 shares, an increase of 69.4% from the September 15th total of 7,565,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,675,716 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nutrien

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTR. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 1,014.0% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the second quarter worth $30,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the first quarter worth $32,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Nutrien in the second quarter valued at about $51,000. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nutrien Price Performance

NTR traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $69.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,435,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,045,062. Nutrien has a twelve month low of $53.03 and a twelve month high of $85.36. The company has a market capitalization of $33.07 billion, a PE ratio of 14.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.57.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by ($0.09). Nutrien had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 8.44%. The firm had revenue of $10.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Nutrien will post 4.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 29th. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on NTR shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Friday, September 18th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Nutrien from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $81.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. National Bank Financial cut their target price on shares of Nutrien from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, KeyCorp initiated coverage on Nutrien in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a “sector weight” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.90.

About Nutrien

Nutrien Ltd. is a Canada-based provider of crop inputs, services and solutions for agricultural producers. The company produces and distributes potash, nitrogen and phosphate products, which are used to support crop nutrition and agricultural productivity. Its product portfolio also includes crop protection products, seed, farm supplies and other agronomic inputs.

Nutrien serves farmers through a broad retail network operating primarily across North and South America, Australia and other international markets.