Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,342,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NTR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Nutrien during the fourth quarter valued at about $241,958,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Nutrien by 159.5% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,435,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $242,976,000 after purchasing an additional 3,341,169 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its position in Nutrien by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,043,590 shares of the company's stock valued at $270,396,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236,671 shares in the last quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP boosted its position in Nutrien by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP now owns 11,693,137 shares of the company's stock valued at $523,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in Nutrien by 192.7% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 411,056 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,395,000 after purchasing an additional 854,543 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Nutrien stock traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $58.64. The company had a trading volume of 511,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,131,426. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12-month low of $43.70 and a 12-month high of $60.87. The company's fifty day moving average is $52.77 and its 200-day moving average is $50.37. The company has a market capitalization of $28.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.79.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 6.81% and a net margin of 2.62%. The company had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio is presently 203.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on Nutrien from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BNP Paribas raised Nutrien to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America raised their price target on Nutrien from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Nutrien from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.44.

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.