Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 9.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,319,603 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 198,620 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.47% of Nutrien worth $112,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTR. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich lifted its position in shares of Nutrien by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 9,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. FFT Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 0.8% during the second quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,488,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Nutrien by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 23,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, United Services Automobile Association raised its position in shares of Nutrien by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 17,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $909,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NTR. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Securities cut their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group lowered Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $51.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.95.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NTR opened at $46.38 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $47.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.80. The company has a market capitalization of $22.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.80. Nutrien Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $44.65 and a fifty-two week high of $60.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 6.99%. The company had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.939 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 144.97%.

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.