Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $44.45 and last traded at $44.54, with a volume of 216696 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on NTR shares. CIBC reiterated an “outperformer” rating and issued a $55.00 target price (down from $60.00) on shares of Nutrien in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Securities decreased their target price on Nutrien from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Nutrien from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nutrien has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.95.

Nutrien Trading Down 1.8 %

The company has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $47.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.78. 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 (NYSE:NTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 2.79%. The business had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.939 dividend. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Nutrien’s payout ratio is 144.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Nutrien in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the second quarter worth $32,000. Andra AP fonden bought a new position in Nutrien during the second quarter worth $51,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Nutrien during the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Nutrien during the 2nd quarter valued at $72,000. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.