Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on NTR. Raymond James raised Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays decreased their target price on Nutrien from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Nutrien in a report on Friday, September 20th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.95.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of Nutrien stock opened at $48.18 on Thursday. Nutrien has a 1 year low of $44.65 and a 1 year high of $60.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $47.85 and its 200 day moving average is $49.02. The stock has a market cap of $23.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.34, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 2.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nutrien will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders 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 yield of 7.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nutrien’s payout ratio is currently 144.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTR. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Nutrien in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nutrien in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Andra AP fonden purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the second quarter worth $51,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Nutrien during the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. Institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

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.