Entropy Technologies LP Makes New Investment in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Nutrien during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Nutrien during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 50.0% during the second 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. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Nutrien by 33.3% in 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 period. Finally, Andra AP fonden bought a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the second quarter worth about $51,000. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Securities cut their price objective on Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. HSBC cut shares of Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Nutrien from $66.00 to $59.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Nutrien from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.33.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NTR opened at $46.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.81 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.99 and a 200-day moving average of $50.42. Nutrien Ltd. has a one year low of $44.65 and a one year high of $60.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.04). Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 2.79%. The business had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.939 per share. This is an increase from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.13%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 144.97%.

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.