Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,830,000 shares, a drop of 18.5% from the March 31st total of 4,700,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,950,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Securities cut their price target on Nutrien from $75.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. CIBC lowered their price objective on Nutrien from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Berenberg Bank lowered their price objective on Nutrien from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Nutrien from $86.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Nutrien from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nutrien presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.95.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NTR stock traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $52.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,227,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,711,381. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.23 and a 200-day moving average of $54.03. The company has a market capitalization of $25.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.89. Nutrien has a 12-month low of $47.90 and a 12-month high of $70.07.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.35). The business had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.36 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 8.59% and a net margin of 4.33%. The company’s revenue was down 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Nutrien will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTR. Townsend & Associates Inc lifted its stake in Nutrien by 27.8% during the third quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 163,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,125,000 after purchasing an additional 35,690 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Nutrien by 2.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,361,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $394,047,000 after purchasing an additional 154,159 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its stake in Nutrien by 64.6% during the third quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 75,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,690,000 after purchasing an additional 29,819 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the fourth quarter valued at $3,433,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Nutrien by 0.5% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,262,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $572,062,000 after acquiring an additional 48,230 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nutrien Company Profile

Nutrien Ltd. provides crop inputs and services. The company operates through four segments: Retail, Potash, Nitrogen, and Phosphate. The Retail segment distributes crop nutrients, crop protection products, seeds, and merchandise products. The Potash segment provides granular and standard potash products.