Northern Trust Corp Increases Stock Position in Nutrien Ltd. $NTR

Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 13.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 403,798 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 47,767 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.08% of Nutrien worth $20,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTR. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nutrien in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $511,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,685,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,193,000 after acquiring an additional 150,464 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Nutrien in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 93.4% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 17,995 shares of the company's stock valued at $805,000 after acquiring an additional 8,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 35.9% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 37,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 9,863 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NTR stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $56.97. 2,619,228 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,267,447. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $58.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.77. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12-month low of $43.69 and a 12-month high of $65.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.33.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Monday, September 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 29th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Nutrien from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $66.00 price target (up from $63.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Nutrien from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded Nutrien from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Nutrien from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.65.

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.