Nutrien Ltd. $NTR Stock Position Cut by Kopernik Global Investors LLC

Kopernik Global Investors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 18.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,423,780 shares of the company’s stock after selling 329,879 shares during the quarter. Nutrien makes up about 7.5% of Kopernik Global Investors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Kopernik Global Investors LLC owned approximately 0.30% of Nutrien worth $107,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Nutrien by 310.7% in the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Nutrien during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Sfam LLC bought a new position in Nutrien during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Eastern Bank grew its position in shares of Nutrien by 133.0% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 699 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Nutrien by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 704 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Price Performance

NYSE NTR opened at $68.47 on Thursday. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12 month low of $53.03 and a 12 month high of $85.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.01.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. Nutrien had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 8.58%.The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Nutrien’s payout ratio is presently 44.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on NTR shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce dropped their target price on shares of Nutrien from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperformer” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Scotia raised shares of Nutrien from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.00.

About Nutrien

Nutrien Ltd. is a global fertilizer and agricultural-services company headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The company is publicly traded and operates across the farm input value chain, combining upstream fertilizer production with a broad retail and services platform aimed at supporting crop production worldwide. Nutrien’s business model integrates the manufacture and distribution of crop nutrients with on-the-ground agronomic support for growers and agricultural businesses.

Nutrien produces and supplies the three primary fertilizer nutrients—potash, nitrogen and phosphate—through its wholesale operations, and markets a wide range of crop inputs including seeds and crop protection products.