Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) Short Interest Down 46.9% in October

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 5,160,000 shares, a decline of 46.9% from the September 30th total of 9,720,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Based on an average trading volume of 2,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Nutrien Trading Down 3.7%

NTR stock opened at $54.37 on Friday. Nutrien has a 1-year low of $43.69 and a 1-year high of $65.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $26.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.49, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.10.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.24. Nutrien had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 5.25%.The business had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Nutrien will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 29th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 29th. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NTR. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nutrien by 94.8% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Nutrien by 72.6% during the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Nutrien by 42.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in shares of Nutrien during the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Nutrien from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nutrien in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Nutrien from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “cautious” rating on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Nutrien from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.78.

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.