Short Interest in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Declines By 53.9%

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) saw a large decline in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,290,000 shares, a decline of 53.9% from the September 30th total of 17,990,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,050,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on NTR. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Nutrien from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. HSBC cut Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Hsbc Global Res lowered Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. 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. According to MarketBeat, Nutrien presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.67.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NTR traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $47.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,935,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,942,025. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Nutrien has a 1-year low of $44.65 and a 1-year high of $60.87.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.15. Nutrien had a net margin of 2.97% and a return on equity of 6.91%. The firm had revenue of $10.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Nutrien will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.51%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.32%.

Institutional Trading of Nutrien

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Nutrien during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in Nutrien during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in Nutrien by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings 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 purchased a new stake in Nutrien in the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Nutrien

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.