Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC Acquires 670,000 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 462.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 815,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 670,000 shares during the quarter. Nutrien makes up approximately 2.4% of Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $36,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Goodman Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 4.6% in the third quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 253,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,201,000 after acquiring an additional 11,058 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Nutrien by 10.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,742,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,812,000 after purchasing an additional 157,932 shares during the last quarter. Covea Finance grew its stake in shares of Nutrien by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Covea Finance now owns 55,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Nutrien by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,396,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,200,000 after purchasing an additional 151,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Nutrien by 78.8% in the 3rd quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 2,495,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NTR opened at $51.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $25.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.29, 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. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $50.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.55.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.09 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 6.81%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.27%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 159.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on NTR shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Nutrien from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Nutrien from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Nutrien in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on Nutrien from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Nutrien from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.94.

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.