Syntax Research Inc. Grows Position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Syntax Research Inc. raised its holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,836 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,637 shares during the period. Nutrien accounts for about 2.1% of Syntax Research Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Syntax Research Inc.’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $3,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Goodman Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 253,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,201,000 after purchasing an additional 11,058 shares in the last quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 7.0% in the third quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 494,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,777,000 after buying an additional 32,541 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 10.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,742,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,812,000 after buying an additional 157,932 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 4.3% in the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 564,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,139,000 after acquiring an additional 23,117 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in Nutrien by 335.0% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 70,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,379,000 after acquiring an additional 54,138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of Nutrien stock opened at $46.38 on Wednesday. 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 52-week low of $44.65 and a 52-week high of $60.87. The company has a fifty day moving average of $47.75 and a 200-day moving average of $48.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.80.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 6.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.5 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.939 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.10%. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on NTR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Raymond James upgraded Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. CIBC restated an “outperformer” rating and set a $55.00 target price (down from $60.00) on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $62.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, TD Securities cut their price objective on Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nutrien has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.95.

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.