Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Nutrien (NYSE:NTR)

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 17,115 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 183% compared to the average volume of 6,044 call options.

Nutrien Stock Up 6.7%

NYSE NTR traded up $5.30 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $84.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,315,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,375,752. The company has a market capitalization of $40.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Nutrien has a 52 week low of $45.78 and a 52 week high of $85.35.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 8.43%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Nutrien will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Nutrien’s payout ratio is presently 47.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Nutrien by 310.7% during the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Nutrien in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Sfam LLC purchased a new position in Nutrien during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of Nutrien by 133.0% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 699 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in Nutrien by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 704 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Nutrien from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Nutrien from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Nutrien from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Nutrien from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Nutrien from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.12.

About Nutrien

Nutrien Ltd. is a global fertilizer and agricultural-services company headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The company is publicly traded and operates across the farm input value chain, combining upstream fertilizer production with a broad retail and services platform aimed at supporting crop production worldwide. Nutrien’s business model integrates the manufacture and distribution of crop nutrients with on-the-ground agronomic support for growers and agricultural businesses.

Nutrien produces and supplies the three primary fertilizer nutrients—potash, nitrogen and phosphate—through its wholesale operations, and markets a wide range of crop inputs including seeds and crop protection products.