Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Nutrien has been upgraded from a "hold" to a "strong-buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, signaling increased investor confidence in the company.
• Several analysts have adjusted their target prices for Nutrien, with Oppenheimer raising it to $65.00 and Raymond James downgrading it to a $68.00 price objective.
• The company's most recent earnings report showed $2.65 earnings per share, exceeding expectations and reflecting a 2.8% increase in revenue year-over-year, though slightly below consensus estimates.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on NTR. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Nutrien from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America raised their target price on 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 restated a "hold" rating and set a $66.00 target price (up previously from $63.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Nutrien from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Nutrien from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.65.

Nutrien Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:NTR traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $56.30. 2,285,569 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,290,820. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Nutrien has a fifty-two week low of $43.69 and a fifty-two week high of $65.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 29th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nutrien

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTR. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the 2nd quarter valued at about $150,416,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 48.7% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,992,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $347,319,000 after purchasing an additional 2,291,518 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 13,268,229 shares of the company's stock valued at $772,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627,328 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,191,003 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,051,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,503 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 8,786,309 shares of the company's stock valued at $436,137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284,181 shares during the period. 63.10% of the stock is currently 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.