Appian Way Asset Management LP Buys Shares of 51,500 Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Appian Way Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 51,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,475,000. Nutrien accounts for 0.6% of Appian Way Asset Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NTR. Goodman Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 253,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,201,000 after purchasing an additional 11,058 shares during the last quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. increased its holdings in Nutrien by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 494,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,777,000 after acquiring an additional 32,541 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nutrien in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,639,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Nutrien by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,742,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,812,000 after buying an additional 157,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Nutrien by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 564,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,139,000 after buying an additional 23,117 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NTR opened at $46.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Nutrien Ltd. has a 52-week low of $44.65 and a 52-week high of $60.87. The company has a market capitalization of $23.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $47.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.82.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 6.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Research analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.939 per share. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nutrien’s payout ratio is presently 144.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. HSBC lowered Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Nutrien from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.