Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,436,236 shares of the company’s stock after selling 59,600 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Nutrien worth $64,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the third quarter worth $150,181,000. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its holdings in Nutrien by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,043,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,396,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236,671 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised 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 purchasing an additional 1,100,000 shares in the last quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,009,895 shares during the period. Finally, Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nutrien by 462.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 815,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,471,000 after buying an additional 670,000 shares during the period. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Nutrien from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Nutrien from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Nutrien in a report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Nutrien from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Nutrien in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.13.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NTR opened at $50.82 on Friday. Nutrien Ltd. has a one year low of $43.70 and a one year high of $60.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.27.

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

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is currently 159.12%.

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.