Blueshift Asset Management LLC Invests $347,000 in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NTR. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,416,000 after acquiring an additional 3,920 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Nutrien in the first quarter worth about $394,000. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Nutrien by 21.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 5,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 32.1% in the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 63,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,473,000 after buying an additional 15,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Nutrien by 160.9% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group downgraded shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $66.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Nutrien from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays lowered their price target on Nutrien from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nutrien currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.33.

Nutrien Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NTR opened at $46.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $47.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $22.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.82. Nutrien Ltd. has a 52 week low of $44.65 and a 52 week high of $60.87.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.04). Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 2.79%. The firm had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.15%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nutrien’s payout ratio is currently 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.