MQS Management LLC Takes Position in Nutrien Ltd. $NTR

MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $575,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NTR. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 184.1% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 7,934 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Nutrien by 163.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nutrien during the first quarter worth about $869,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Nutrien by 5.7% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 105,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,252,000 after purchasing an additional 5,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc increased its holdings in Nutrien by 5.9% in the first quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 36,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. National Bankshares initiated coverage on Nutrien in a report on Friday, September 5th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $67.00 target price on shares of Nutrien in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of Nutrien in a report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Nutrien from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Nutrien from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.78.

Nutrien Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:NTR opened at $58.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $28.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12-month low of $43.69 and a 12-month high of $65.08. The business’s 50 day moving average is $57.84 and its 200 day moving average is $57.90.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.40 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 5.25%.Nutrien’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Monday, September 29th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 29th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Nutrien’s payout ratio is presently 78.14%.

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.