Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 39.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,430 shares of the company’s stock after selling 75,328 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $5,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Nutrien during the second quarter worth $32,000. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in Nutrien by 50.0% during the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 900 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Nutrien by 33.3% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien in the second quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Stock Up 0.8 %

NTR stock opened at $45.91 on Thursday. 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 52-week low of $44.65 and a 52-week high of $60.87. The company has a 50-day moving average of $47.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.82.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). Nutrien had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 6.99%. The company had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.939 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.18%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on Nutrien from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Nutrien from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $69.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Nutrien in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.33.

Nutrien 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.