Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Acquires 5,620 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. $NTR

Key Points

• Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its holdings in Nutrien Ltd. by 18.8% during the 1st quarter, now owning 35,513 shares worth approximately $1.76 million.
• Nutrien announced a quarterly dividend of $0.545 per share, yielding 3.8%, with a payout ratio of 78.14%.
• The company reported $2.65 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and reflecting a 2.8% year-over-year revenue increase.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. raised its stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 18.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 35,513 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,620 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Nutrien were worth $1,761,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. increased its position in Nutrien by 1.6% in the first quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 450,220 shares of the company's stock worth $22,362,000 after purchasing an additional 7,047 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its position in Nutrien by 18.0% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 192,144 shares of the company's stock worth $9,544,000 after purchasing an additional 29,363 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Nutrien by 15.2% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,750,830 shares of the company's stock worth $86,889,000 after purchasing an additional 231,490 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Nutrien by 13.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 403,798 shares of the company's stock worth $20,057,000 after purchasing an additional 47,767 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Nutrien by 6.0% in the first quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,079 shares of the company's stock worth $1,544,000 after purchasing an additional 1,768 shares during the period. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nutrien from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Nutrien from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Nutrien from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Nutrien from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Nutrien from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nutrien presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.65.

Nutrien Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE NTR traded up $0.2030 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.8130. The stock had a trading volume of 1,313,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,031,233. The company has a market capitalization of $28.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.81. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12 month low of $43.69 and a 12 month high of $65.08. The company's 50-day moving average price is $59.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.69. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $10.30 billion for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 29th. Nutrien's dividend 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.