First Manhattan CO. LLC. Lowers Position in Nutrien Ltd. $NTR

Key Points

• First Manhattan CO. LLC. reduced its stake in Nutrien Ltd. by 5.3%, holding shares valued at $11.34 million after selling 12,639 shares in the first quarter of the year.
• Nutrien announced a quarterly dividend of $0.545 per share, representing a 3.8% yield, with payment scheduled for October 17th to shareholders of record on September 29th.
• A recent earnings report showed Nutrien's EPS at $2.65, exceeding analyst expectations, while the revenue of $10.30 billion was slightly below projections.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. decreased its position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 5.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 225,931 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,639 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC.'s holdings in Nutrien were worth $11,336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 117.1% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 938 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Nutrien by 1,074.7% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,022 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Nutrien by 4,866.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the 1st quarter valued at about $65,000. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Nutrien from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $68.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Nutrien from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Nutrien from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Nutrien from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, National Bank Financial began coverage on Nutrien in a report on Friday. They issued a "sector perform" rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.72.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Nutrien stock traded down $0.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $56.39. 2,574,800 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,270,127. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $58.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.09. 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 capitalization of $27.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.77. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1 year low of $43.69 and a 1 year high of $65.08.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.24. The firm 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%.The company's revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Monday, September 29th will be given 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 yield of 3.9%. Nutrien's payout ratio is currently 78.14%.

About Nutrien

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.