Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 70.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 416,127 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 171,699 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned 0.08% of Nutrien worth $23,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Nutrien in the fourth quarter valued at about $409,603,000. Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in Nutrien in the first quarter valued at about $521,017,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Nutrien by 51.3% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,853,165 shares of the company's stock valued at $425,881,000 after buying an additional 2,322,679 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its stake in Nutrien by 18,312.9% in the fourth quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,595,295 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,862,000 after buying an additional 1,586,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Nutrien by 79.6% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,490,036 shares of the company's stock valued at $362,929,000 after buying an additional 1,547,030 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nutrien Trading Up 1.6 %

NTR stock traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $52.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,536,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,044,880. The company has a market cap of $26.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.89. The business's 50 day moving average price is $52.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12 month low of $47.90 and a 12 month high of $73.41.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.35). Nutrien had a return on equity of 8.59% and a net margin of 4.33%. The business had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Nutrien's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Nutrien from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Nutrien in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Nutrien from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Nutrien from $86.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, CIBC dropped their target price on Nutrien from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.95.

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.