MQS Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

MQS Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 36.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,988 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,830 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,781,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,020,012,000 after buying an additional 570,912 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Nutrien by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 13,331,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $751,381,000 after acquiring an additional 239,578 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in Nutrien by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 12,017,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $676,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,960,162 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Nutrien by 0.5% during the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,571,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $519,816,000 after acquiring an additional 50,369 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Nutrien by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 9,226,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,309,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,358 shares during the period. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho raised Nutrien from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Nutrien from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Berenberg Bank upgraded Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Nutrien from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Nutrien from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nutrien currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.39.

Nutrien Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:NTR traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $51.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 118,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,875,470. The company has a market capitalization of $25.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.83. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12 month low of $47.86 and a 12 month high of $69.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $53.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.93.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 7.31%. Equities analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.32%.

Nutrien 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.