Nutrien Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:NTR)

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 10,919 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 261% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,028 put options.

Nutrien Price Performance

NTR opened at $59.09 on Thursday. Nutrien has a 12-month low of $43.69 and a 12-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 firm has a market capitalization of $28.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $57.87 and a 200-day moving average of $58.48.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.06. Nutrien had a return on equity of 7.54% and a net margin of 6.79%.The firm had revenue of $5.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. Nutrien’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Nutrien will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NTR shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Nutrien from $63.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Nutrien from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. National Bankshares initiated coverage on Nutrien in a report on Friday, September 5th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nutrien in a report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Nutrien from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.94.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 107,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,362,000 after buying an additional 3,225 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 15.2% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 19,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $946,000 after acquiring an additional 2,517 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 27.0% during the first quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 7,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 1,595 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Nutrien by 7.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,191,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,051,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Nutrien by 6.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,017,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,101,000 after purchasing an additional 130,828 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.