Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Key Points

• Nutrien Ltd. experienced a significant 42.4% decrease in short interest in July, with a total of 3,580,000 shares sold short as of July 31st.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Nutrien, with Harbour Investments raising theirs by 94.8% during the first quarter.
• Nutrien reported earnings of $2.65 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 2.8%.

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,580,000 shares, adecreaseof42.4% from the July 15th total of 6,220,000 shares. Approximately0.7% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Based on an average daily volume of 2,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Approximately0.7% of the company's stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nutrien

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NTR. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nutrien by 94.8% in the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 715 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Nutrien by 72.6% during the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 656 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new position in shares of Nutrien during the second quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Nutrien by 117.1% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 938 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Nutrien by 1,074.7% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,022 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Nutrien from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on Nutrien from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $66.00 price objective (up from $63.00) on shares of Nutrien in a report on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Nutrien from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $68.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Nutrien from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.65.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NTR stock opened at $57.10 on Monday. Nutrien has a 12 month low of $43.69 and a 12 month high of $65.08. 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 $27.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.81. The company's fifty day moving average price is $59.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.53.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.40 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 5.25% and a return on equity of 6.51%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nutrien will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

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

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.

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