Nutrien Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:NTR)

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 137,838 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 3,857% compared to the typical volume of 3,483 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NTR. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. National Bank Financial assumed coverage on Nutrien in a report on Friday, September 5th. They issued a “sector perform” rating for the company. National Bankshares started coverage on shares of Nutrien in a report on Friday, September 5th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.17.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NTR traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $62.49. 1,829,332 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,384,150. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $58.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.72. Nutrien has a 12 month low of $43.69 and a 12 month high of $65.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 0.72.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 7.54% and a net margin of 6.79%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Nutrien will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Nutrien’s payout ratio is presently 58.76%.

Institutional Trading of Nutrien

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the third quarter worth $37,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Nutrien by 72.6% during the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nutrien by 42.4% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 735 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in Nutrien during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new stake in Nutrien in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

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.