Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Stock Holdings Increased by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,627,597 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 76,085 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 1.15% of Nutrien worth $252,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Nutrien in the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,663,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in Nutrien in the fourth quarter worth about $384,000. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its stake in Nutrien by 60.7% in the fourth quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 29,893 shares of the company's stock worth $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 11,287 shares during the period. Kamunting Street Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Nutrien by 275.5% in the 4th quarter. Kamunting Street Capital Management L.P. now owns 105,705 shares of the company's stock worth $4,730,000 after acquiring an additional 77,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 41,153 shares of the company's stock worth $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 9,313 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on NTR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Nutrien from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Nutrien from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Nutrien from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. 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 report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Nutrien from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nutrien currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $59.27.

Nutrien Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NTR traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $57.11. 3,357,655 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,114,086. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12-month low of $43.70 and a 12-month high of $60.87. The firm has a market cap of $27.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.50.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.09). Nutrien had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The company had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.09 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Nutrien's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 159.12%.

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.