Short Interest in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Increases By 92.8%

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 10,241,667 shares, an increase of 92.8% from the June 15th total of 5,310,769 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 3,476,553 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on NTR. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Nutrien from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Berenberg Bank set a $65.00 target price on shares of Nutrien and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Nutrien from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Nutrien from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.00.

Institutional Trading of Nutrien

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Nutrien during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 1,014.0% during the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Nutrien in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Sfam LLC bought a new stake in Nutrien during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NTR stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $67.27. The company had a trading volume of 1,612,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,272,241. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $66.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.85. The firm has a market cap of $32.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.62. Nutrien has a one year low of $53.03 and a one year high of $85.36.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Nutrien had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 8.84%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Nutrien will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.81%.

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.