31,868 Shares in Nutrien Ltd. $NTR Acquired by MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV

Key Points

• MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV opened a new position in Nutrien (NYSE:NTR), buying 31,868 shares in Q4 worth about $1.97 million, which equals roughly 1.6% of the firm's portfolio and makes NTR its 29th largest holding; institutional investors hold about 63.1% of the stock.
• Several brokers have recently raised ratings and price targets — including Wells Fargo (upgraded to Overweight, target $100), Morgan Stanley (target $93) and BMO (target $90) — yet MarketBeat's consensus rating remains a Hold with a $78.50 price target (11 Buy, 8 Hold, 2 Sell).
• Nutrien boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.55 (annualized $2.20) for a ~2.9% yield with an ex-dividend date of March 31 and payment on April 16; the company also reported Q results with EPS of $0.83 and revenue of $5.12B, both slightly below consensus estimates.

MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 31,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,967,000. Nutrien comprises about 1.6% of MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTR. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Nutrien during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 133.0% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 699 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 42.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 735 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Nutrien during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Nutrien in the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTR has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Nutrien from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $77.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $77.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nutrien presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.50.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NTR opened at $74.95 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.08 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $74.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.00. Nutrien Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $46.50 and a fifty-two week high of $85.36.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 8.43% and a return on equity of 8.41%. Nutrien's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st 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, March 31st. This is a boost from Nutrien's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.21%.

Nutrien Profile

Nutrien Ltd. is a global fertilizer and agricultural-services company headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The company is publicly traded and operates across the farm input value chain, combining upstream fertilizer production with a broad retail and services platform aimed at supporting crop production worldwide. Nutrien's business model integrates the manufacture and distribution of crop nutrients with on-the-ground agronomic support for growers and agricultural businesses.

Nutrien produces and supplies the three primary fertilizer nutrients—potash, nitrogen and phosphate—through its wholesale operations, and markets a wide range of crop inputs including seeds and crop protection products.

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