Empirical Asset Management LLC Invests $1.72 Million in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 38,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,724,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Nutrien during the second quarter worth about $52,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Nutrien by 1,370.6% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 1,494 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Nutrien by 113.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Nutrien by 56.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTR has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Raymond James raised shares of Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. CIBC reissued an “outperformer” rating and set a $55.00 price target (down from $60.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Nutrien from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.21.

Nutrien Trading Up 0.2 %

NTR stock opened at $51.59 on Friday. Nutrien Ltd. has a one year low of $43.69 and a one year high of $60.87. The stock has a market cap of $25.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $47.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.90. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.04). Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 2.79%. The company had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.939 dividend. This is an increase from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.28%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is presently 144.97%.

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.