Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Purchases 3,566 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,264 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,566 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $2,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTR. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Nutrien during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Nutrien during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in Nutrien by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Nutrien by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden purchased a new stake in Nutrien during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:NTR opened at $45.56 on Wednesday. Nutrien Ltd. has a twelve month low of $44.65 and a twelve month high of $60.87. The company has a market cap of $22.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 6.99%. The business’s revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.939 dividend. This is an increase from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Nutrien’s payout ratio is presently 144.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a report on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Nutrien from $66.00 to $59.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group lowered shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $66.00 to $51.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $69.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Nutrien from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.33.

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.