Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Sells 2,597 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 0.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 343,452 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,597 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $16,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nutrien in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in shares of Nutrien by 50.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden bought a new stake in Nutrien during the second quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $52,000. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of 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. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. HSBC lowered Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group lowered Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $66.00 to $51.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.33.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NTR stock traded up $0.19 on Thursday, reaching $46.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,276,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,968,421. The company has a market capitalization of $22.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1 year low of $44.65 and a 1 year high of $60.87.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 2.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.56 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.939 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.15%. Nutrien’s payout ratio is 144.97%.

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.