Viking Fund Management LLC Makes New Investment in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Viking Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $96,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nutrien in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,639,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nutrien by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,210,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,025,790,000 after acquiring an additional 158,161 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Nutrien by 370.1% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 58,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,152,000 after acquiring an additional 45,695 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 88.6% during the third quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 30,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,477,000 after purchasing an additional 14,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas acquired a new position in Nutrien during the first quarter valued at $1,146,000. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NTR opened at $49.05 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $47.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.38. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1 year low of $44.65 and a 1 year high of $62.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.26 billion, a PE ratio of 28.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.82.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $10.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.82 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 2.97% and a return on equity of 6.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. Nutrien’s payout ratio is 126.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Nutrien from $66.00 to $59.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group lowered shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $66.00 to $51.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.67.

Nutrien 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.