Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Price Target Raised to $56.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $53.00 to $56.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on NTR. Raymond James raised shares of Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $56.00 price target (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Nutrien from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Nutrien from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $40.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.39.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NTR opened at $52.68 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $25.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.45, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.23. Nutrien has a 1 year low of $43.69 and a 1 year high of $60.87.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.09 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 6.81%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nutrien will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nutrien’s payout ratio is 157.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nutrien

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Nutrien by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,778,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $885,009,000 after acquiring an additional 325,210 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in Nutrien by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 12,523,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $560,416,000 after acquiring an additional 40,800 shares in the last quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP grew its holdings in Nutrien by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP now owns 11,693,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $523,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,895 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Nutrien by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,529,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $426,436,000 after acquiring an additional 77,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Nutrien by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,105,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,951,000 after acquiring an additional 721,935 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.