Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.11 EPS

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.11), Zacks reports. Nutrien had a return on equity of 7.54% and a net margin of 6.79%.

Nutrien Stock Up 0.7%

NTR traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $70.37. 2,552,595 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,987,601. Nutrien has a 1 year low of $45.78 and a 1 year high of $73.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.42.

Institutional Trading of Nutrien

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Nutrien by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 7,219,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,310,000 after acquiring an additional 305,458 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Nutrien during the 4th quarter worth approximately $321,000. KKM Financial LLC grew its position in Nutrien by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. KKM Financial LLC now owns 90,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,583,000 after buying an additional 13,358 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Capital LP raised its stake in Nutrien by 101.8% in the fourth quarter. Guardian Capital LP now owns 526,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,528,000 after purchasing an additional 265,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Nutrien by 440.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,338,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,008,713,000 after buying an additional 13,313,817 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Nutrien from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $77.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Nutrien in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nutrien in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.69.

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.