The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Trims Stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 18.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,551,512 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,228,417 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $266,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden acquired a new position in shares of Nutrien in the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien during the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on NTR shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Nutrien from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. HSBC downgraded Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Nutrien from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.33.

Nutrien Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE NTR opened at $46.81 on Tuesday. 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 Ltd. has a 1 year low of $44.65 and a 1 year high of $60.87. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.03. The firm has a market cap of $23.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.42, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.82.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 2.79%. The business had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. Nutrien’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.939 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.02%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.