Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 122,749 shares of the company’s stock after selling 52,581 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $5,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in Nutrien in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in Nutrien in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Nutrien by 33.3% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 932 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden purchased a new position in Nutrien in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on NTR. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group lowered shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $51.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.33.

Nutrien Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE NTR opened at $45.60 on Tuesday. 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 12 month low of $44.65 and a 12 month high of $60.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.52 billion, a PE ratio of 30.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.34.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.939 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.24%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio 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.