Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 100,497 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 22.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 343,141 shares of the company's stock after selling 100,497 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of Nutrien worth $19,428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Townsend & Associates Inc increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 27.8% during the third quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 163,942 shares of the company's stock worth $10,125,000 after purchasing an additional 35,690 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 2.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,361,084 shares of the company's stock valued at $394,047,000 after buying an additional 154,159 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 64.6% in the third quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 75,945 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,690,000 after purchasing an additional 29,819 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the fourth quarter worth about $3,433,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,262,659 shares of the company's stock valued at $572,062,000 after acquiring an additional 48,230 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. CIBC lowered their price target on shares of Nutrien from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Nutrien from $86.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. TD Securities decreased their target price on Nutrien from $75.00 to $67.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Nutrien from $77.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Nutrien from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nutrien presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.25.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of Nutrien stock traded up $0.31 on Friday, hitting $52.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 976,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,968,659. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Nutrien Ltd. has a 52-week low of $47.90 and a 52-week high of $69.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $53.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.87. The company has a market capitalization of $26.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.89.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.36 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 8.59%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from Nutrien's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. Nutrien's payout ratio is 85.38%.

Nutrien 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.