Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

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.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on NTR. National Bank Financial initiated coverage on Nutrien in a research note on Friday, September 5th. They issued a "sector perform" rating for the company. Scotiabank cut their target price on Nutrien from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Nutrien from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. TD Securities raised their target price on Nutrien from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Nutrien from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.39.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NTR stock traded down $0.28 on Friday, hitting $57.13. 2,922,391 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,080,312. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.72 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.77. Nutrien has a one year low of $43.69 and a one year high of $65.08. The firm's 50 day moving average is $58.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.25.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.40 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 5.25%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Nutrien will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Monday, September 29th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 29th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Nutrien's payout ratio is currently 78.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nutrien

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Nutrien by 94.8% in the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 715 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of Nutrien by 72.6% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 656 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nutrien by 42.4% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 735 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien in the second quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Nutrien by 117.1% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 938 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.