Nutrien Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:NTR)

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 7,356 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 57% compared to the typical volume of 4,691 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Nutrien in the 4th quarter valued at $3,433,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in Nutrien by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 9,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,311 shares in the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC raised its position in Nutrien by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 10,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the fourth quarter valued at about $234,000. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 52,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,972,000 after purchasing an additional 2,992 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NTR opened at $48.28 on Friday. Nutrien has a 1 year low of $44.90 and a 1 year high of $65.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.41.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.15. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.91% and a net margin of 2.97%. The company had revenue of $10.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Nutrien will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Nutrien’s payout ratio is 126.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Nutrien in a report on Monday, August 12th. Hsbc Global Res cut Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Nutrien from $56.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nutrien currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.78.

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.