BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 909,213 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp cut its holdings in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 85.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 159,117 shares of the company’s stock after selling 909,213 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $7,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Nutrien during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien in the second quarter worth $32,000. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 50.0% during the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 900 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden purchased a new position in Nutrien during the second quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Nutrien in the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of Nutrien stock opened at $46.66 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $47.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.71. Nutrien Ltd. has a 52 week low of $44.65 and a 52 week high of $60.87. The company has a market capitalization of $23.05 billion, a PE ratio of 31.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.82.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.939 per share. This is an increase from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.05%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on NTR. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Nutrien from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nutrien has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.33.

Nutrien Company 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.