Simplicity Solutions LLC Raises Stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,097 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the period. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $344,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Covestor Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 55.2% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 904.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NTR opened at $52.78 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $26.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.86, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.89. Nutrien Ltd. has a 12-month low of $47.90 and a 12-month high of $72.96.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.36 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 8.59%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Nutrien’s payout ratio is currently 85.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Nutrien from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Nutrien from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $58.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, February 23rd. CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Piper Sandler cut shares of Nutrien from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.95.

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.