First Trust Advisors LP Reduces Position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 117,248 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,044 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Nutrien were worth $5,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cadence Bank increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 121,011 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,415,000 after acquiring an additional 30,657 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,907,301 shares of the company's stock worth $85,344,000 after purchasing an additional 16,948 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 297,113 shares of the company's stock worth $13,254,000 after purchasing an additional 21,451 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Nutrien by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 205,551 shares of the company's stock worth $9,309,000 after purchasing an additional 22,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 52,090 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,331,000 after purchasing an additional 13,000 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NTR shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Nutrien from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Nutrien from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Nutrien from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Nutrien in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "sell" rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.27.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NTR traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $56.33. The stock had a trading volume of 269,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,110,788. The company has a market capitalization of $27.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.79. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12-month low of $43.70 and a 12-month high of $60.87. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.56 and a 200-day moving average of $49.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.09). Nutrien had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The business had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.09 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio is presently 159.12%.

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.