Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Shares Sold by Parnassus Investments LLC

Parnassus Investments LLC lessened its stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 46.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,564,307 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,354,214 shares during the quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $75,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of NTR. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Nutrien during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in Nutrien by 50.0% during the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 900 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Nutrien by 33.3% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 932 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, Andra AP fonden bought a new stake in Nutrien during the second quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on NTR shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Nutrien from $66.00 to $59.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Nutrien from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.33.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of Nutrien stock opened at $45.60 on Tuesday. Nutrien Ltd. has a 52 week low of $44.65 and a 52 week high of $60.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $22.52 billion, a PE ratio of 30.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $47.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.34.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $5.35 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.939 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.24%. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 144.97%.

Nutrien 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.