Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Sells 118,522 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. $NTR

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lessened its stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 39.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 184,179 shares of the company’s stock after selling 118,522 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $11,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Eastern Bank lifted 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 in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Nutrien by 42.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Nutrien in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Nutrien by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NTR. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Nutrien from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Nutrien from $77.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 12th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Nutrien from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Nutrien from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.06.

Nutrien Stock Up 0.9%

Nutrien stock opened at $72.18 on Friday. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1-year low of $53.03 and a 1-year high of $85.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.07.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.04). Nutrien had a net margin of 8.43% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The business had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is an increase from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.21%.

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.