Palouse Capital Management Inc. Makes New $2.59 Million Investment in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Palouse Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 53,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,586,000. Nutrien comprises approximately 1.6% of Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 54.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 841,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,620,000 after buying an additional 296,122 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the 4th quarter valued at $233,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Nutrien by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $807,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in Nutrien by 120.2% during the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 3,780,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,421,000 after acquiring an additional 2,063,881 shares during the period. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Nutrien in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Stock Performance

NTR stock traded down $0.86 during trading on Monday, hitting $46.82. The company had a trading volume of 1,142,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,937,257. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $23.16 billion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.82. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1-year low of $44.65 and a 1-year high of $60.87.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.15. Nutrien had a net margin of 2.97% and a return on equity of 6.91%. The firm had revenue of $10.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.53 EPS. Nutrien’s quarterly revenue was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.61%. Nutrien’s payout ratio is currently 126.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NTR. TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Nutrien from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Nutrien from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.67.

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.