Cardinal Capital Management Inc. Sells 19,436 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Cardinal Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 544,642 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,436 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $24,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in Nutrien by 8.3% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 37.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 13,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $679,000 after acquiring an additional 3,645 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its position in Nutrien by 2.2% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 37,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,996,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 56.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Nutrien in the second quarter worth $14,305,000. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nutrien Stock Up 2.6 %

NTR opened at $52.61 on Thursday. Nutrien Ltd. has a twelve month low of $43.69 and a twelve month high of $60.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.81.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 6.99%. Nutrien’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.939 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.14%. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is presently 144.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on NTR shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer started coverage on Nutrien in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $56.00 target price (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group cut Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, CIBC reiterated an “outperformer” rating and issued a $55.00 target price (down previously from $60.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.39.

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.