Easterly Investment Partners LLC Sells 1,522 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 117,435 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,522 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $5,255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Nutrien during the 4th quarter worth $241,958,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Nutrien in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $150,181,000. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its position in Nutrien by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,043,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,396,000 after buying an additional 1,236,671 shares during the period. Silchester International Investors LLP boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP now owns 11,693,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $523,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,895 shares during the period. Finally, Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 462.1% in the fourth quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 815,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,471,000 after acquiring an additional 670,000 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of Nutrien stock opened at $50.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.93. 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 Ltd. has a 1-year low of $43.70 and a 1-year high of $60.87.

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

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 159.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Nutrien from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $40.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Nutrien from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Raymond James raised Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Nutrien from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Nutrien from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.00.

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.