Lazard Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Lazard Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 24.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 242,098 shares of the company’s stock after selling 78,055 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $13,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Nutrien in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,433,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,210,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,025,790,000 after purchasing an additional 158,161 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 370.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 58,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,152,000 after purchasing an additional 45,695 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the 1st quarter worth about $1,146,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 54.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 841,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,620,000 after purchasing an additional 296,122 shares during the period. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NTR. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Nutrien from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Nutrien from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Nutrien from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Mizuho raised Nutrien from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.39.

Nutrien Stock Performance

NYSE:NTR traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $51.22. 1,484,768 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,886,325. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Nutrien Ltd. has a twelve month low of $47.86 and a twelve month high of $69.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $53.07 and a 200 day moving average of $52.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.83.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.11. Nutrien had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The business had revenue of $5.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.32%.

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.