AGF Management Ltd. Acquires 719,088 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 37.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,648,796 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 719,088 shares during the period. Nutrien comprises about 1.0% of AGF Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. AGF Management Ltd. owned 0.54% of Nutrien worth $161,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Nutrien by 1.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,052,214 shares of the company's stock worth $1,114,905,000 after purchasing an additional 332,190 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Nutrien by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 14,708,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $908,374,000 after buying an additional 214,299 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Nutrien by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 13,331,450 shares of the company's stock valued at $751,381,000 after acquiring an additional 239,578 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in Nutrien by 1.3% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 10,057,019 shares of the company's stock worth $621,121,000 after acquiring an additional 131,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 0.5% during the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,262,659 shares of the company's stock worth $572,062,000 after acquiring an additional 48,230 shares during the period. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NTR stock remained flat at $58.17 on Friday. 2,178,392 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,623,284. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.65. Nutrien Ltd. has a 52-week low of $47.90 and a 52-week high of $69.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.77 billion, a PE ratio of 34.02, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.88.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.35). Nutrien had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 3.01%. The company had revenue of $5.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. Nutrien's revenue for the quarter was down 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on NTR. CIBC dropped their price target on Nutrien from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Nutrien from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Nutrien from $86.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $67.84.

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.