Keating Investment Counselors Inc. Acquires New Position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Keating Investment Counselors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 24,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Nutrien by 3.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,781,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,020,012,000 after acquiring an additional 570,912 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 12,017,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $676,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,960,162 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,571,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $519,816,000 after purchasing an additional 50,369 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 9,226,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,309,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 10.6% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 8,839,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,058,000 after purchasing an additional 844,559 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NTR opened at $46.33 on Friday. Nutrien Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $44.90 and a fifty-two week high of $65.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $22.92 billion, a PE ratio of 27.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.82.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.15. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.91% and a net margin of 2.97%. The firm had revenue of $10.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.53 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.66%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Nutrien from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Nutrien from $66.00 to $59.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nutrien has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.78.

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.