Nutrien Ltd. $NTR Stock Holdings Lessened by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Lazard Asset Management cut its Nutrien stake by 35.9% in the first quarter, selling 26,077 shares and retaining 46,512 shares valued at approximately $3.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 63.1% of Nutrien.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 16 Buy ratings, four Holds and one Sell rating. The consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $81.84.
• Nutrien reported first-quarter EPS of $0.51, exceeding estimates of $0.48, while revenue rose 18.5% year over year to $6.05 billion. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, representing a 3.2% annualized yield.

Lazard Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 35.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,512 shares of the company's stock after selling 26,077 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Nutrien were worth $3,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NTR. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Nutrien by 440.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,338,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,008,713,000 after purchasing an additional 13,313,817 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Nutrien during the fourth quarter worth about $412,635,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 8,928,534 shares of the company's stock worth $551,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559,673 shares during the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG grew its position in Nutrien by 1,373.6% in the first quarter. DJE Kapital AG now owns 1,534,869 shares of the company's stock worth $116,111,000 after buying an additional 1,430,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the first quarter worth $99,603,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NTR shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Nutrien from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Nutrien from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Scotia raised shares of Nutrien from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Nutrien from $93.00 to $81.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Nutrien from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.84.

Nutrien Trading Down 2.5%

NTR stock opened at $68.98 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business's 50 day moving average is $66.39 and its 200-day moving average is $70.36. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1-year low of $53.03 and a 1-year high of $85.36. The firm has a market cap of $33.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.62.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.30 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 8.58%.The business's revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.81%.

About Nutrien

Nutrien Ltd. is a global fertilizer and agricultural-services company headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The company is publicly traded and operates across the farm input value chain, combining upstream fertilizer production with a broad retail and services platform aimed at supporting crop production worldwide. Nutrien's business model integrates the manufacture and distribution of crop nutrients with on-the-ground agronomic support for growers and agricultural businesses.

Nutrien produces and supplies the three primary fertilizer nutrients—potash, nitrogen and phosphate—through its wholesale operations, and markets a wide range of crop inputs including seeds and crop protection products.

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