Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Nutrien has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from 22 brokerages, with 17 buy ratings, four holds and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $81.15, above the reported share price of $76.95.
• Institutional investors hold 63.1% of Nutrien’s stock, with several major funds recently establishing or increasing positions, including Wellington Management, Norges Bank and TD Asset Management.
• Nutrien reported quarterly revenue of $10.81 billion, up 3.6% year over year, but earnings per share of $2.61 fell short of the $2.70 analyst estimate. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, yielding approximately 2.9% annually.

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $81.15.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NTR shares. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Nutrien from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Nutrien from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. National Bank Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Nutrien from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotia raised shares of Nutrien from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th.

Institutional Trading of Nutrien

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $654,081,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Nutrien by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,798,196 shares of the company's stock valued at $604,745,000 after acquiring an additional 189,683 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Nutrien by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 8,928,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $551,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,559,673 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Nutrien in the 4th quarter valued at $412,635,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Nutrien in the second quarter worth $375,178,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Nutrien Stock Performance

NYSE:NTR opened at $76.95 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.62. Nutrien has a 52-week low of $53.03 and a 52-week high of $85.36.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.70 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $10.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.44 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Nutrien will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 29th. Nutrien's payout ratio is presently 44.53%.

About Nutrien

Nutrien Ltd. NYSE: NTR is a global provider of crop inputs and agricultural services. The company produces and distributes essential nutrients, including potash, nitrogen and phosphate products, which farmers use to support crop growth and improve yields.

Through its retail operations, Nutrien supplies farmers with seed, crop protection products, fertilizers and agronomic services. Its retail network also provides farm management recommendations, application services and other solutions designed to help growers manage their operations and use agricultural inputs more efficiently.

Nutrien was formed in 2018 through the merger of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan and Agrium.

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