Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Buys 3,341,169 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 159.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,435,627 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,341,169 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 1.11% of Nutrien worth $242,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NTR. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Nutrien by 114.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 7,279 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Nutrien by 1,370.6% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 1,494 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Nutrien by 20.8% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Nutrien by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 308,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Appian Way Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,475,000. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nutrien Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Nutrien stock opened at $50.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $51.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.81. Nutrien Ltd. has a 52-week low of $43.70 and a 52-week high of $60.87.

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

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is 159.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on NTR. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Raymond James raised shares of Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Nutrien from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.00.

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.