Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Given “Equal Weight” Rating at Barclays

Barclays reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $56.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $55.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on NTR. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Nutrien in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Nutrien from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James upgraded Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Nutrien from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.39.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NTR opened at $51.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.81. Nutrien has a 52 week low of $43.69 and a 52 week high of $60.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $47.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.88. 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 (NYSE:NTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 2.79%. The company had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Nutrien will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.939 per share. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.32%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is 144.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nutrien

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Nutrien by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Nutrien by 37.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 13,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $679,000 after buying an additional 3,645 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Nutrien by 2.2% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 37,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,996,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Nutrien by 56.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Nutrien in the 2nd quarter worth about $14,305,000. 63.10% of the stock is currently 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.