Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Stake Lifted by ARGA Investment Management LP

ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,510,844 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 467,254 shares during the period. Nutrien makes up about 10.8% of ARGA Investment Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. ARGA Investment Management LP owned approximately 1.33% of Nutrien worth $323,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Nutrien by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 50,614 shares of the company's stock worth $2,512,000 after purchasing an additional 6,988 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Nutrien by 27.8% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 222,727 shares of the company's stock worth $11,060,000 after acquiring an additional 48,464 shares in the last quarter. Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC grew its position in Nutrien by 0.3% in the first quarter. Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC now owns 368,065 shares of the company's stock worth $18,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new position in Nutrien in the first quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 9.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 499,678 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,819,000 after buying an additional 42,810 shares during the period. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nutrien Stock Down 2.0%

Nutrien stock traded down $1.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $59.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 974,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,183,568. Nutrien Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $43.70 and a fifty-two week high of $65.08. The company has a market cap of $29.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.72.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.24). Nutrien had a net margin of 2.05% and a return on equity of 6.08%. The company had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Nutrien's payout ratio is 203.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on NTR. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Nutrien from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Nutrien from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $68.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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, Scotiabank downgraded Nutrien from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $62.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.50.

Nutrien 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.