Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Trading Down 5.3% – Should You Sell?

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) traded down 5.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $49.78 and last traded at $49.72. 2,433,227 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 3% from the average session volume of 2,371,484 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTR has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Nutrien from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Nutrien from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. CIBC increased their price target on Nutrien from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Nutrien in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “sell” rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.13.

Nutrien Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $24.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.09 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 2.62%. Research analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 159.12%.

Institutional Trading of Nutrien

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,778,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $885,009,000 after acquiring an additional 325,210 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox raised its stake in Nutrien by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 12,523,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $560,416,000 after purchasing an additional 40,800 shares in the last quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP boosted its holdings in Nutrien by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP now owns 11,693,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $523,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009,895 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Nutrien by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,529,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $426,436,000 after purchasing an additional 77,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,105,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,951,000 after purchasing an additional 721,935 shares during the period. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.