Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Nutrien has been upgraded from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" by Zacks Research, indicating increased confidence in the stock's performance.
• Several brokerages have also adjusted their ratings on Nutrien, with two ratings as "Strong Buy," six as "Buy," and a consensus target price of $62.65.
• In its latest quarterly earnings, Nutrien reported $2.65 earnings per share, exceeding expectations, while the revenue was $10.30 billion, marking a 2.8% increase year-over-year.

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Monday, August 18th,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on NTR. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $66.00 price objective (up from $63.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nutrien from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Nutrien from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.65.

Nutrien Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NTR traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $58.22. 1,764,512 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,253,225. Nutrien has a fifty-two week low of $43.69 and a fifty-two week 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $59.21 and a 200-day moving average of $55.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 29th. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 0.4% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 47,329 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,349,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 42.4% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 735 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nutrien by 0.7% during the first quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,796 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Nutrien by 0.4% during the second quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 59,035 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,438,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lifted its position in shares of Nutrien by 0.7% during the second quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 38,799 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,280,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nutrien Company 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.