Nutrien Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:NTR)

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 8,937 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 41% compared to the average volume of 6,344 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTR. First Pacific Financial boosted its position in Nutrien by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 12,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Nutrien by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its stake in Nutrien by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 12,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc raised its stake in Nutrien by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 8,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ruggaard & Associates LLC raised its stake in Nutrien by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC now owns 5,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Trading Up 5.0 %

NTR opened at $58.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $28.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.63. Nutrien has a one year low of $47.90 and a one year high of $69.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.35). Nutrien had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 8.59%. The business had revenue of $5.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nutrien will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. This is a boost from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is 84.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Nutrien from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. CIBC decreased their target price on Nutrien from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. TD Securities decreased their target price on Nutrien from $75.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Nutrien from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Nutrien in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.50.

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.