Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy 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 note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also commented on NTR. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Nutrien from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Nutrien from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Raymond James Financial lowered Nutrien from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $68.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. UBS Group cut their target price on Nutrien from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Nutrien from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.65.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NTR traded up $0.2030 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $57.8130. 1,313,972 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,014,880. Nutrien has a one year low of $43.69 and a one year 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 cap of $28.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $59.21 and a 200-day moving average of $55.67.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.24. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 5.25%.The company had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. Nutrien's revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Nutrien will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Nutrien

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTR. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 94.8% during 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 boosted 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 purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 42.4% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 735 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the second quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 117.1% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 938 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company's stock.

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.