Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Shares Acquired by Townsend & Associates Inc

Townsend & Associates Inc grew its position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 58.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 259,851 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 95,909 shares during the period. Nutrien comprises approximately 1.8% of Townsend & Associates Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Townsend & Associates Inc owned approximately 0.05% of Nutrien worth $14,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 904.0% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 753 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Nutrien in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Nutrien in the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Nutrien during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nutrien during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nutrien Trading Up 5.0 %

NYSE NTR traded up $2.77 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $58.20. The company had a trading volume of 3,298,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,973,208. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $53.44 and a 200 day moving average of $53.63. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1-year low of $47.90 and a 1-year high of $69.12.

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

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This is a positive change from Nutrien's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio is presently 84.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho lifted their price target on Nutrien from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Securities dropped their target price on shares of Nutrien from $75.00 to $67.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. CIBC decreased their price target on shares of Nutrien from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Nutrien from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Nutrien from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $67.50.

About Nutrien

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.