Nutrien Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:NTR)

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders bought 20,710 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 357% compared to the typical volume of 4,536 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nutrien

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in Nutrien in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the second quarter worth $32,000. Andra AP fonden acquired a new stake in Nutrien in the second quarter valued at $51,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Nutrien during the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Nutrien during the 2nd quarter valued at $72,000. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. CIBC reaffirmed an “outperformer” rating and issued a $55.00 target price (down from $60.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.95.

Nutrien Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE NTR opened at $44.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.92, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.27. Nutrien has a one year low of $43.87 and a one year high of $60.87. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $47.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.65.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.04). Nutrien had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 6.99%. The business had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nutrien will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.939 dividend. This is an increase from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.43%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is presently 144.97%.

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.