USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 29,500 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. $NTR

Key Points

• USS Investment Management Ltd has reduced its holdings in Nutrien Ltd. by 55.4%, selling 29,500 shares during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Nutrien, with notable increases by MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. (65.1%) and Advisors Asset Management Inc. (23.8%).
• Nutrien announced a quarterly dividend of $0.545 to be paid on October 17th, representing an annualized yield of 3.8%.

USS Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 55.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,720 shares of the company's stock after selling 29,500 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Nutrien were worth $1,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Nutrien by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,191,003 shares of the company's stock worth $1,051,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,503 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,284,181 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 0.7% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 7,855,609 shares of the company's stock worth $389,860,000 after purchasing an additional 54,918 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Nutrien by 6.5% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,568,805 shares of the company's stock worth $375,943,000 after acquiring an additional 463,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,291,518 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nutrien Trading Down 0.5%

Nutrien stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $57.13. 2,922,391 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,080,312. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $58.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.77. Nutrien Ltd. has a 52-week low of $43.69 and a 52-week high of $65.08.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 5.25% and a return on equity of 6.51%. The firm had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. The company's revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 29th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio is presently 78.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NTR shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Nutrien from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Nutrien from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank cut their target price on Nutrien from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded Nutrien from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $68.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nutrien currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.39.

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.