Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) Rating Increased to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) was upgraded by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $96.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 21.11% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Nutrien from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Nutrien from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Nutrien from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Nutrien from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Nutrien from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.12.

Nutrien Stock Up 4.2%

Nutrien stock opened at $79.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.14 billion, a PE ratio of 17.01 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.29. Nutrien has a 12 month low of $45.78 and a 12 month high of $79.31.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.26 billion. Nutrien had a net margin of 8.43% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Nutrien will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 310.7% during the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 423 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nutrien in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Sfam LLC purchased a new position in Nutrien during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Eastern Bank lifted its position in Nutrien by 133.0% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 699 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Nutrien by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 704 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.