Natixis Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 34,519 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,832 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $1,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Silchester International Investors LLP raised its position in Nutrien by 164.4% in the 3rd quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP now owns 10,683,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $513,437,000 after purchasing an additional 6,642,075 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Nutrien by 15.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,354,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $719,668,000 after buying an additional 1,794,333 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Nutrien by 34.0% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,066,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,763 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board purchased a new position in Nutrien in the second quarter worth approximately $38,176,000. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. purchased a new position in Nutrien in the second quarter worth approximately $31,063,000. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nutrien Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:NTR opened at $46.81 on Tuesday. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1-year low of $44.65 and a 1-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. The stock has a market cap of $23.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $48.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.03.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. Nutrien’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.939 dividend. This is an increase from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 144.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Nutrien in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group cut 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 research report on Thursday, October 10th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Nutrien from $66.00 to $59.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $69.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.33.

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.