Sicart Associates LLC Trims Holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Sicart Associates LLC reduced its position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 84,282 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,692 shares during the period. Sicart Associates LLC’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $3,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Nutrien by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,354,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $719,668,000 after acquiring an additional 1,794,333 shares during the period. Silchester International Investors LLP grew its position in shares of Nutrien by 164.4% in the third 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 during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Nutrien by 1.9% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,006,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $458,522,000 after purchasing an additional 167,312 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its position in Nutrien by 8.1% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 5,990,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,970,000 after buying an additional 446,340 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Nutrien by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,232,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,380,000 after buying an additional 165,582 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Nutrien from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday. UBS Group downgraded 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 set a $60.00 target price on shares of Nutrien in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $62.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.21.

Nutrien Stock Down 1.0 %

NTR opened at $51.54 on Friday. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1-year low of $43.69 and a 1-year high of $60.87. The business has a 50 day moving average of $46.95 and a 200-day moving average of $47.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.81. 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 (NYSE:NTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.939 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.29%. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.