Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Short Interest Down 55.4% in April

Key Points

• Short interest plunged 55.4% in April to 3,717,784 shares (about 0.8% of shares sold short), leaving a short-interest ratio of roughly 1.2 days.
• Nutrien paid a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share (annualized $2.20), implying a yield of about 3.1% and a payout ratio near 47.2%.
• Several analysts have raised price targets (e.g., Wells Fargo to $100, BMO to $90), but the consensus rating remains a Hold with an average target of $80.06.

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,717,784 shares, a decrease of 55.4% from the March 31st total of 8,340,769 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,053,082 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Nutrien Stock Performance

NYSE NTR traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $71.52. 1,616,327 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,141,145. The business's fifty day moving average price is $74.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35 and a beta of 0.69. Nutrien has a 52 week low of $53.03 and a 52 week high of $85.36.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 8.43% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Nutrien will post 4.78 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is an increase from Nutrien's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Nutrien's payout ratio is presently 47.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Nutrien from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Nutrien from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $77.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Nutrien from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Nutrien from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nutrien from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $80.06.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nutrien

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 6,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC now owns 9,032 shares of the company's stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 15.9% during the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 1,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Smith Moore & CO. lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 2.2% during the third quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 7,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 983 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Nutrien Company Profile

Nutrien Ltd. is a global fertilizer and agricultural-services company headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The company is publicly traded and operates across the farm input value chain, combining upstream fertilizer production with a broad retail and services platform aimed at supporting crop production worldwide. Nutrien's business model integrates the manufacture and distribution of crop nutrients with on-the-ground agronomic support for growers and agricultural businesses.

Nutrien produces and supplies the three primary fertilizer nutrients—potash, nitrogen and phosphate—through its wholesale operations, and markets a wide range of crop inputs including seeds and crop protection products.

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