Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $44.45 and last traded at $44.54, with a volume of 216696 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Raymond James raised shares of Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group cut shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. 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 company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.95.

Nutrien Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $21.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $47.48 and a 200 day moving average of $48.65.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 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 business had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nutrien

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich grew its holdings in Nutrien by 2.3% during the second quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 9,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. FFT Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Nutrien by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 1.1% during the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 23,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association grew its stake in Nutrien by 1.6% in the second quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 17,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.