Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Nutrien Ltd. $NTR

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 79,770 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,230 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $4,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Smith Moore & CO. lifted its position in Nutrien by 2.2% during the third quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 7,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Nutrien by 0.6% during the third quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 30,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,811,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Nutrien by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 10,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $619,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank increased its stake in shares of Nutrien by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 4,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Nutrien by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $772,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nutrien Stock Performance

NYSE NTR opened at $74.77 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $35.97 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05 and a beta of 0.70. Nutrien Ltd. has a twelve month low of $45.78 and a twelve month high of $85.36.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 8.43% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NTR. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Nutrien from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Nutrien from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Nutrien from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Nutrien from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.11.

Nutrien 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.