Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Increases Stock Position in Nutrien Ltd. $NTR

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 90,797 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,027 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $5,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 310.7% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 423 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Nutrien in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Eastern Bank increased its position in Nutrien by 133.0% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Nutrien by 42.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulcrum Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Nutrien during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NTR stock opened at $71.30 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.34. The company has a market cap of $34.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 0.64. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12-month low of $53.03 and a 12-month high of $85.36.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.30 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 8.58%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is 44.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Nutrien from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Nutrien from $77.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperformer” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.75.

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.