Flputnam Investment Management Co. Sells 424 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. decreased its stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,622 shares of the company’s stock after selling 424 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NTR. Covestor Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Nutrien during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 55.2% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Nutrien during the third quarter worth $28,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Nutrien during the third quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Nutrien by 904.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NTR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Nutrien from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Nutrien from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Nutrien from $88.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. CIBC decreased their target price on Nutrien from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Nutrien in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nutrien presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.95.

Nutrien Stock Performance

NTR opened at $52.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.17. Nutrien Ltd. has a 52-week low of $47.90 and a 52-week high of $73.41. The firm has a market cap of $26.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $52.91 and its 200-day moving average is $54.36.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.35). The business had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.36 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 8.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.38%.

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.