Sphera Funds Management LTD. Buys 15,164 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Sphera Funds Management LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 37.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,894 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 15,164 shares during the period. Sphera Funds Management LTD.'s holdings in Nutrien were worth $2,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Nutrien in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Nutrien by 331.0% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 625 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Nutrien by 1,437.5% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 738 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Nutrien during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 96.7% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 846 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of Nutrien from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Nutrien from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Nutrien to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Nutrien from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Nutrien from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.44.

Nutrien Trading Up 1.3%

Nutrien stock traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $59.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,404,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,134,241. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $52.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12 month low of $43.70 and a 12 month high of $60.87. The stock has a market cap of $29.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.79.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.16 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 2.62%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 203.74%.

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.