Wall Street Zen Downgrades Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) to Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has downgraded Nutrien from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating, reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment.
• Oppenheimer and TD Securities both raised their price targets for Nutrien, indicating continued positive outlooks with targets set at $65.00 and $72.00 respectively.
• Nutrien's stock is currently trading at $56.39, with a market cap of $27.41 billion, and has recently posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Nutrien from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. TD Securities upped their price target on Nutrien from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Nutrien from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $66.00 price target (up from $63.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.72.

Nutrien Stock Down 1.0%

Nutrien stock opened at $56.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $27.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.77. Nutrien has a 52-week low of $43.69 and a 52-week high of $65.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.13.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.24. Nutrien had a net margin of 5.25% and a return on equity of 6.51%. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Nutrien will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Nutrien

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Nutrien by 184.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,243 shares of the company's stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 7,934 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 27.6% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nutrien during the first quarter valued at about $517,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 163.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,690 shares of the company's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 4,866.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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