TD Asset Management Inc Buys 563,677 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Key Points

• TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Nutrien Ltd. by 10.0%, acquiring an additional 563,677 shares to total over 6.1 million shares valued at approximately $306.6 million.
• Nutrien recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.545 per share, yielding about 3.63%, although its payout ratio is notably high at 203.74%.
• The stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" among analysts, with an average target price of $63.22, reflecting mixed sentiments as some firms maintain "buy" ratings while others advise caution.

TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 10.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,179,358 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 563,677 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc owned 1.27% of Nutrien worth $306,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its stake in Nutrien by 8.1% in the first quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 84,593 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,202,000 after acquiring an additional 6,364 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its stake in Nutrien by 4.5% in the first quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 72,724 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,612,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Nutrien by 153.9% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Nutrien by 10.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 41,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,036,000 after acquiring an additional 3,718 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Nutrien in the first quarter valued at approximately $206,000. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NTR shares. BNP Paribas upgraded Nutrien to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays upped their price target on Nutrien from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Nutrien from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Nutrien from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Nutrien from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nutrien has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.22.

Nutrien Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:NTR traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.73. 720,847 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,264,125. Nutrien Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $43.69 and a fifty-two week high of $65.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.03. The firm has a market cap of $29.09 billion, a PE ratio of 55.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.