Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Shares Sold by Ruffer LLP

Key Points

• Ruffer LLP reduced its position in Nutrien Ltd. by 23.3% during the first quarter, now holding approximately $37.42 million in shares.
• Nutrien reported a net loss of $0.24 per share for the last quarter, falling short of analysts' expectations, with revenues down 5.4% from the previous year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.545 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.7%, despite a high payout ratio of 203.74%.

Ruffer LLP lessened its holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 23.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 753,298 shares of the company's stock after selling 229,430 shares during the quarter. Nutrien makes up 1.4% of Ruffer LLP's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Ruffer LLP owned about 0.15% of Nutrien worth $37,416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NTR. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Nutrien by 192.7% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 411,056 shares of the company's stock worth $18,395,000 after purchasing an additional 854,543 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,105,057 shares of the company's stock worth $317,951,000 after purchasing an additional 721,935 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Nutrien by 30.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,022,551 shares of the company's stock worth $137,202,000 after buying an additional 702,948 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in Nutrien by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 5,316,035 shares of the company's stock valued at $238,915,000 after buying an additional 595,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Nutrien by 789.0% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 659,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,709,000 after buying an additional 585,002 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $66.00 price target (up previously from $63.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Nutrien from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Nutrien from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Scotiabank lowered shares of Nutrien from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $62.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.39.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of Nutrien stock traded down $1.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $58.08. The stock had a trading volume of 3,037,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,670,022. Nutrien Ltd. has a twelve month low of $43.69 and a twelve month high of $65.08. The stock's 50 day moving average is $60.07 and its 200 day moving average is $55.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.28 billion, a PE ratio of 54.28, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.81.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.16 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.08% and a net margin of 2.05%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Nutrien's payout ratio is 203.74%.

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.