Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Stock Rating Upgraded by Raymond James Financial

Key Points

• Raymond James upgraded Nutrien from "market perform" to "outperform" and set a $90 price objective, implying roughly a 16.5% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive — 12 Buys, 6 Holds and 2 Sells give a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $80.94, and several firms have recently raised targets.
• Shares traded up 1.9% to $77.25 (market cap ~$37.1B) after the company posted a quarter with $0.83 EPS and $5.12B revenue, missing estimates of $0.87 EPS and $5.26B revenue.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Raymond James Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report issued on Tuesday. The firm currently has a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial's price target would indicate a potential upside of 16.50% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on NTR. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Nutrien from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Nutrien from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.94.

Nutrien Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NTR traded up $1.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $77.25. 1,227,825 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,457,823. The company has a market cap of $37.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.55 and a beta of 0.64. Nutrien has a fifty-two week low of $53.03 and a fifty-two week high of $85.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock's 50-day moving average is $74.85 and its 200-day moving average is $66.62.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 8.43% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nutrien will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nutrien

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 79,770 shares of the company's stock worth $4,691,000 after buying an additional 15,230 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Nutrien by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,854,650 shares of the company's stock valued at $108,901,000 after purchasing an additional 25,588 shares during the last quarter. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV acquired a new position in Nutrien in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,967,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its stake in Nutrien by 190.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 116,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,829,000 after purchasing an additional 76,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in Nutrien by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 220,648 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,958,000 after purchasing an additional 60,491 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nutrien

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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