Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC decreased its position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,298 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,809 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $2,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Silchester International Investors LLP increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 164.4% during the third quarter. Silchester International Investors LLP now owns 10,683,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,437,000 after acquiring an additional 6,642,075 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the third quarter worth $150,181,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 78.8% during the third quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 2,495,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,271,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100,000 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 11.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,220,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,830,000 after acquiring an additional 447,413 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 34.2% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,287,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,848,000 after acquiring an additional 327,799 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NTR opened at $52.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $25.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.06. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1-year low of $43.69 and a 1-year high of $60.87.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 2.79%. Nutrien’s revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.939 dividend. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.18%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is 144.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Nutrien from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Nutrien from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Nutrien in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $56.00 target price (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Nutrien in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Raymond James raised Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.94.

About Nutrien

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.