Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. Increases Holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 34,774 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $1,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Silchester International Investors LLP increased its stake in Nutrien by 9.5% during 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 in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 4.1% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,232,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,380,000 after buying an additional 165,582 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 11.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,220,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,830,000 after acquiring an additional 447,413 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Nutrien in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $150,181,000. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its position in Nutrien by 78.8% in the 3rd quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 2,495,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,271,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100,000 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nutrien Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:NTR opened at $52.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $47.61 and a 200 day moving average of $47.98. The company has a market cap of $25.81 billion, a PE ratio of 35.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.81. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12-month low of $43.69 and a 12-month high of $60.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.939 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.15%. This is an increase from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Nutrien’s payout ratio is presently 144.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on NTR. TD Securities reduced their target price on Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Nutrien from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. CIBC restated an “outperformer” rating and set a $55.00 target price (down previously from $60.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group lowered shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $56.00 price objective (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nutrien presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.67.

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.