Mizuho Downgrades Nutrien (TSE:NTR) to Strong Sell

Mizuho cut shares of Nutrien (TSE:NTR - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Nutrien from C$75.00 to C$70.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of C$68.25.

Nutrien Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NTR stock traded up C$0.72 on Friday, reaching C$78.58. 852,409 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,231,670. Nutrien has a 12-month low of C$64.89 and a 12-month high of C$92.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of C$38.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.97. The business's 50 day moving average price is C$73.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$72.80.

Nutrien (TSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported C$0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of C$0.97 by C($0.47). Nutrien had a net margin of 4.48% and a return on equity of 5.02%. The business had revenue of C$7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of C$7.10 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nutrien will post 5.6844584 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. Nutrien's payout ratio is 85.30%.

Insider Activity at Nutrien

In other Nutrien news, Director Robert Kirkpatrick sold 7,317 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$53.14, for a total value of C$388,825.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 566 shares of the company's stock, valued at C$30,077.24. In related news, Senior Officer Noralee Bradley purchased 500 shares of Nutrien stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$71.48 per share, with a total value of C$35,740.00. Also, Director Robert Kirkpatrick sold 7,317 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$53.14, for a total value of C$388,825.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$30,077.24. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 1,530 shares of company stock valued at $109,899. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Nutrien Company 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.