Analysts Set Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Price Target at $72.24

Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.8235.

Several brokerages have recently commented on NTR. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Nutrien from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Nutrien from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Nutrien from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Nutrien from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday.

Nutrien Stock Performance

NTR opened at $74.43 on Friday. Nutrien has a 1-year low of $45.78 and a 1-year high of $78.00. The company has a market cap of $35.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $68.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.04). Nutrien had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 8.43%.The business had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Nutrien will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Nutrien’s payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nutrien

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NTR. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 310.7% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Nutrien in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Sfam LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 72.6% in the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 656 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its position in Nutrien by 133.0% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Company Profile

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.