Nutrien (TSE:NTR) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Nutrien from buy to hold and sharply cut its price target to C$63 from C$96, implying notable downside from the current share price.
• Despite the downgrade, overall analyst sentiment remains mixed-to-positive: Nutrien’s consensus rating is still Moderate Buy, with a consensus target price of C$74.33.
• The stock recently traded at C$94.04 after a small decline, while the company reported quarterly EPS of C$0.71 and revenue of C$8.41 billion; insiders also made recent share purchases.

Nutrien (TSE:NTR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a C$63.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of C$96.00. Jefferies Financial Group's price objective would suggest a potential downside of 33.01% from the company's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial raised Nutrien from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. National Bank Financial raised Nutrien to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday. Berenberg Bank cut Nutrien from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Scotiabank raised shares of Nutrien from a "hold" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a C$80.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Nutrien from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of C$74.33.

Nutrien Stock Performance

TSE:NTR traded down C$1.95 during trading on Thursday, reaching C$94.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 503,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,743,507. The firm has a market cap of C$45.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 55.44, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$93.41 and a 200-day moving average of C$96.40. Nutrien has a 12 month low of C$74.77 and a 12 month high of C$116.95.

Nutrien (TSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$0.71 EPS for the quarter. Nutrien had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The business had revenue of C$8.41 billion for the quarter. Research analysts expect that Nutrien will post 5.3416399 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher Reynolds purchased 2,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$95.19 per share, for a total transaction of C$228,456.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,007,586.15. This represents a 29.32% increase in their position. Also, Director Kenneth Alvin Seitz purchased 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$94.52 per share, for a total transaction of C$368,628.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 47,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$4,490,928.76. This represents a 8.94% increase in their position. Insiders acquired 8,141 shares of company stock worth $766,436 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Nutrien

Nutrien is a leading global provider of crop inputs and services. We operate a world-class network of production, distribution and ag retail facilities that positions us to efficiently serve the needs of growers. We focus on creating long-term value by prioritizing investments that strengthen the advantages of our business across the ag value chain and by maintaining access to the resources and the relationships with stakeholders needed to achieve our goals.

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