Altshuler Shaham Ltd Cuts Holdings in Nutrien Ltd. $NTR

Altshuler Shaham Ltd trimmed its holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,853,201 shares of the company’s stock after selling 289,995 shares during the quarter. Nutrien accounts for about 1.7% of Altshuler Shaham Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Altshuler Shaham Ltd owned approximately 0.38% of Nutrien worth $114,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 6,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $409,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,281,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,208,000 after acquiring an additional 305,000 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 47.2% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 143,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,830,000 after acquiring an additional 45,855 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,087,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 1,237.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 248,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,314,000 after acquiring an additional 229,549 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NTR opened at $64.39 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.43. Nutrien Ltd. has a twelve month low of $53.03 and a twelve month high of $85.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.86 billion, a PE ratio of 13.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.60.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. Nutrien had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 8.84%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Nutrien Ltd. will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is 44.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Nutrien from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Bank of America raised shares of Nutrien from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Nutrien from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Nutrien from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nutrien presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.71.

About Nutrien

Nutrien Ltd. is a global fertilizer and agricultural-services company headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The company is publicly traded and operates across the farm input value chain, combining upstream fertilizer production with a broad retail and services platform aimed at supporting crop production worldwide. Nutrien’s business model integrates the manufacture and distribution of crop nutrients with on-the-ground agronomic support for growers and agricultural businesses.

Nutrien produces and supplies the three primary fertilizer nutrients—potash, nitrogen and phosphate—through its wholesale operations, and markets a wide range of crop inputs including seeds and crop protection products.