Nutrien Ltd. $NTR Shares Sold by Townsend & Associates Inc

Key Points

• Townsend & Associates Inc reduced its stake in Nutrien Ltd. by 13.3%, holding approximately 587,513 shares valued at $35.3 million following the sale of 89,737 shares in the second quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their stakes in Nutrien during the first quarter, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. leading by 48.7% and Vanguard Group Inc. increasing its holdings by 7.1%.
• Nutrien's latest earnings report revealed a quarterly EPS of $2.65, surpassing the consensus estimate, alongside a recently announced dividend yielding 3.8%.

Townsend & Associates Inc lessened its stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 587,513 shares of the company's stock after selling 89,737 shares during the quarter. Nutrien comprises about 3.5% of Townsend & Associates Inc's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Townsend & Associates Inc owned 0.12% of Nutrien worth $35,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NTR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Nutrien by 48.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,992,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $347,319,000 after acquiring an additional 2,291,518 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $1,051,709,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412,503 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Nutrien by 17.1% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 8,786,309 shares of the company's stock valued at $436,137,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284,181 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Nutrien in the 1st quarter worth approximately $63,542,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,554,638 shares of the company's stock valued at $326,927,000 after purchasing an additional 927,041 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Nutrien from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. National Bank Financial began coverage on shares of Nutrien in a report on Friday, September 5th. They set a "sector perform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.78.

Nutrien Stock Performance

NYSE NTR opened at $57.51 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $57.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.62. The company has a market cap of $27.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82. 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 Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $43.69 and a fifty-two week high of $65.08.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 29th were given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 29th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. 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.

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