Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec Buys 232,454 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. $NTR

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec grew its stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,825,090 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 232,454 shares during the period. Nutrien makes up 0.9% of Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec owned approximately 0.78% of Nutrien worth $189,792,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Nutrien by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 356,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,932,000 after purchasing an additional 132,601 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nutrien in the fourth quarter worth about $511,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Nutrien by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,685,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,193,000 after purchasing an additional 150,464 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Nutrien in the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Nutrien by 93.4% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 17,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 8,690 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Stock Performance

NTR opened at $57.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $58.78 and a 200 day moving average of $56.04. Nutrien Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $43.69 and a fifty-two week high of $65.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.33.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.24. Nutrien had a net margin of 5.25% and a return on equity of 6.51%. The firm had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Monday, September 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 29th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NTR shares. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Nutrien from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Nutrien from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $66.00 price target (up previously from $63.00) on shares of Nutrien in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Nutrien from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nutrien currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.65.

Nutrien 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.