Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 25.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 142,879 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,190 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $7,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of NTR. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Nutrien by 43.8% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 5,034 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Nutrien by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $781,000 after buying an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nutrien during the fourth quarter worth $250,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Nutrien by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Nutrien by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 134,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,030,000 after buying an additional 28,315 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NTR. BNP Paribas upgraded Nutrien to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Nutrien from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Nutrien from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on Nutrien from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Scotiabank cut Nutrien from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.61.

Nutrien Stock Down 1.6%

Nutrien stock opened at $59.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.18 billion, a PE ratio of 56.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.57 and its 200-day moving average is $54.12. Nutrien Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $43.70 and a fifty-two week high of $65.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.24). Nutrien had a net margin of 2.05% and a return on equity of 6.08%. The business had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Nutrien’s payout ratio is 203.74%.

Nutrien Company 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.