Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 22,698 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 6.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 339,641 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,698 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.07% of Nutrien worth $16,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NTR. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $51.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James upgraded Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, CIBC reiterated an “outperformer” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (down from $60.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.95.

Nutrien Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE NTR opened at $44.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.48 and a 200-day moving average of $48.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.92, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.80. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12 month low of $43.87 and a 12 month high of $60.87.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released 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). The company had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 2.79%. Nutrien’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.43%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.97%.

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.