Swiss National Bank Grows Position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 0.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,495,836 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $71,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in Nutrien during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 50.0% in the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 33.3% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden bought a new stake in Nutrien during the second quarter worth $51,000. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nutrien Stock Down 0.1 %

NTR stock opened at $45.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.28. Nutrien Ltd. has a twelve month low of $44.65 and a twelve month high of $60.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.50 billion, a PE ratio of 30.58, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). Nutrien had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 6.99%. The firm had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Nutrien’s revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.939 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 144.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $51.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Nutrien from $66.00 to $59.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Nutrien from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.33.

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.