Easterly Investment Partners LLC Invests $5.72 Million in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 118,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,717,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Nutrien during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nutrien during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 900 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 932 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, Andra AP fonden bought a new position in shares of Nutrien during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Securities reduced their target price on Nutrien from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $69.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Nutrien from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays reduced their price target on Nutrien from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $66.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.44.

Nutrien Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NTR traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $48.66. 526,983 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,943,434. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.65. Nutrien Ltd. has a 52 week low of $44.65 and a 52 week high of $60.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a PE ratio of 30.59, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.04). Nutrien had a net margin of 2.97% and a return on equity of 6.91%. The firm had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.939 per share. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.72%. Nutrien’s payout ratio is presently 135.00%.

Nutrien Company 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.