Nutrien Ltd. $NTR Shares Acquired by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Nutrien Ltd. by 23.8%, acquiring an additional 11,129 shares, bringing their total ownership to 57,847 shares valued at $2.87 million.
• Nutrien reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates of $2.41, despite revenue slightly falling short of expectations at $10.30 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.545 per share, representing a yield of 3.9%, with payment scheduled for October 17th.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 23.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,847 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,129 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Nutrien were worth $2,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 47,329 shares of the company's stock worth $2,349,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Blume Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,796 shares of the company's stock worth $1,579,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,262 shares of the company's stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,532 shares of the company's stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 94.8% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 715 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on NTR shares. TD Securities lifted their price target on Nutrien from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on Nutrien from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Nutrien from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Nutrien from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, National Bank Financial began coverage on Nutrien in a research report on Friday, September 5th. They set a "sector perform" rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.39.

Nutrien Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:NTR traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $57.00. 2,447,668 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,140,676. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $58.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $27.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.77. Nutrien Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $43.69 and a fifty-two week high of $65.08.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.40 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 5.25%.Nutrien's revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 29th. Nutrien's payout ratio is currently 78.14%.

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.