Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Cuts Stock Position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,212,971 shares of the company's stock after selling 366,081 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.86% of Nutrien worth $188,512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Covea Finance increased its holdings in Nutrien by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Covea Finance now owns 55,600 shares of the company's stock worth $2,485,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,886,376 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,367,000 after acquiring an additional 144,025 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,480,870 shares of the company's stock worth $66,264,000 after acquiring an additional 80,382 shares during the period. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $654,000. Finally, Abel Hall LLC bought a new position in Nutrien during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NTR shares. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Nutrien from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on Nutrien from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "sell" rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $59.27.

Nutrien Price Performance

NYSE NTR traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $56.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,121,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,098,197. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1 year low of $43.70 and a 1 year high of $60.87. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $51.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.45. The company has a market capitalization of $27.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.43, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.77.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.09 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 2.62%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 159.12%.

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.