Vanguard Group Inc. Has $1.05 Billion Stock Holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Nutrien Ltd. by 7.1% to over 21 million shares, valued at approximately $1.05 billion.
• Nutrien reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.65, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.41, with revenues reaching $10.30 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.545, representing a yield of 3.9% and a payout ratio of 78.14%.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,191,003 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,412,503 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 4.34% of Nutrien worth $1,051,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NTR. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Nutrien by 184.1% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,243 shares of the company's stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 7,934 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 27.6% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,627 shares of the company's stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Nutrien during the 1st quarter valued at $517,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Nutrien by 163.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,690 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Nutrien by 4,866.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Nutrien from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Nutrien from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $66.00 price objective (up previously from $63.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Nutrien presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.65.

Nutrien Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Nutrien stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $56.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,715,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,286,036. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.43. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1 year low of $43.69 and a 1 year high of $65.08. The company has a market capitalization of $27.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Nutrien's payout ratio is presently 78.14%.

Nutrien 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.