WealthTrust Axiom LLC Boosts Stock Position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

WealthTrust Axiom LLC boosted its holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 35.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,876 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,450 shares during the quarter. Nutrien makes up about 1.1% of WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $3,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Pacific Financial increased its holdings in Nutrien by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 12,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc boosted its stake in Nutrien by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 8,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Nutrien by 4.7% in the third quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC now owns 5,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in Nutrien by 0.7% in the third quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 50,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,100,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meixler Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Nutrien by 8.7% in the third quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NTR shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $77.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. CIBC decreased their target price on shares of Nutrien from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $66.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.25.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NTR traded down $1.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $52.96. 815,920 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,972,051. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.94. Nutrien Ltd. has a 52-week low of $47.90 and a 52-week high of $70.07. The company has a market cap of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.38, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.89.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.35). Nutrien had a return on equity of 8.59% and a net margin of 4.33%. The business had revenue of $5.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.36 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.38%.

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.