Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Stake in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 394,122 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 54,481 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Nutrien worth $17,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Nutrien during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Nutrien by 331.0% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 625 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 1,437.5% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 738 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 96.7% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NTR. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Nutrien in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Nutrien in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “sell” rating and a $53.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Nutrien from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Nutrien from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.00.

Nutrien Stock Performance

NYSE NTR opened at $47.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.73, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.27. Nutrien Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $43.70 and a fifty-two week high of $60.87.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.09). Nutrien had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The company had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.09 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.58%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is presently 159.12%.

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.