Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 841,871 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. $NTR

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its holdings in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 22.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,830,518 shares of the company’s stock after selling 841,871 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $164,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NTR. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 0.4% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 47,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,349,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 59,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,438,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. grew its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 38,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,280,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Smith Moore & CO. increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 3.8% in the second quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 7,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its stake in Nutrien by 72.6% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nutrien Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE NTR opened at $60.32 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $29.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.72. Nutrien Ltd. has a twelve month low of $43.69 and a twelve month high of $65.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $57.79 and its 200 day moving average is $58.48.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.06. Nutrien had a return on equity of 7.54% and a net margin of 6.79%.The business had revenue of $5.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NTR shares. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Nutrien in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Nutrien from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, National Bankshares started coverage on Nutrien in a research note on Friday, September 5th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nutrien has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.94.

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.