Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $43.69 and last traded at $44.75, with a volume of 2058005 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NTR. Raymond James raised Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. CIBC reiterated an “outperformer” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (down from $60.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, TD Securities decreased their price objective on Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.95.

Nutrien Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $46.92 and its 200 day moving average is $48.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $22.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.53, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.80.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.939 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is 144.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nutrien

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goodman Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Nutrien by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 253,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,201,000 after purchasing an additional 11,058 shares during the period. CORDA Investment Management LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 7.0% during the third quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 494,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,777,000 after buying an additional 32,541 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Nutrien by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,742,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,812,000 after buying an additional 157,932 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nutrien by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 564,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,139,000 after acquiring an additional 23,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in Nutrien by 335.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 70,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,379,000 after acquiring an additional 54,138 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nutrien Company 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.