Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd Raises Holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Key Points

• Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its stake in Nutrien Ltd. by 190,000 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 2.7 million shares, representing 1.4% of its portfolio.
• Nutrien reported a strong quarterly earnings performance with $2.65 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations, although revenue was slightly below estimates at $10.30 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.545 per share, equating to an annualized dividend yield of 3.9%, with a payout ratio of 78.14%.

Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 7.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,685,282 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 190,000 shares during the period. Nutrien makes up approximately 1.4% of Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd owned 0.55% of Nutrien worth $134,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NTR. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 94.8% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 715 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Nutrien by 117.1% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 938 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Nutrien by 4,866.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. bought a new stake in Nutrien in the first quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in Nutrien in the first quarter worth $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on NTR shares. TD Securities raised their price target on Nutrien from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nutrien from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $60.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Monday. UBS Group decreased their target price on Nutrien from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Nutrien from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $68.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.65.

Nutrien Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NTR stock traded up $0.03 on Thursday, hitting $56.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,715,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,286,036. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.43. The company has a market cap of $27.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.81. Nutrien Ltd. has a one year low of $43.69 and a one year high of $65.08.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 5.25%. The firm had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 29th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Nutrien's payout ratio is presently 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.