Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Acquires 117,694 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. $NTR

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in Nutrien Ltd. by 9.9%, acquiring an additional 117,694 shares, leading to a total ownership of 1,308,471 shares valued at $64,992,000.
• Institutions collectively hold 63.10% of Nutrien's stock, with several hedge funds, including Vanguard Group and JPMorgan Chase & Co., significantly increasing their positions during the same period.
• Nutrien recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.545, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.7%, with the payout set for October 17th.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,308,471 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 117,694 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.27% of Nutrien worth $64,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Nutrien by 7.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,191,003 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,051,709,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412,503 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Nutrien by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 7,855,609 shares of the company's stock worth $389,860,000 after purchasing an additional 54,918 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Nutrien by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,568,805 shares of the company's stock worth $375,943,000 after purchasing an additional 463,748 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 48.7% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,992,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $347,319,000 after purchasing an additional 2,291,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,510,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $323,132,000 after purchasing an additional 467,254 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Nutrien from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $68.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Zacks Research raised Nutrien from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Nutrien from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, TD Securities upped their price target on Nutrien from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.65.

Nutrien Price Performance

NTR stock opened at $58.57 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.81. Nutrien Ltd. has a 52-week low of $43.69 and a 52-week high of $65.08.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.40 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 5.25%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. 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.

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