Nutrien Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:NTR)

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 17,115 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 183% compared to the typical daily volume of 6,044 call options.

Nutrien Stock Performance

NYSE:NTR opened at $83.83 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.34 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $69.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Nutrien has a 12 month low of $45.78 and a 12 month high of $85.35.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 8.43%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nutrien will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nutrien

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Nutrien by 1,699.1% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nutrien by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 5,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,415,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,353,000 after buying an additional 47,798 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 687,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,418,000 after buying an additional 78,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Nutrien by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NTR. Mizuho lifted their target price on Nutrien from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Nutrien from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Nutrien from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Nutrien from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Nutrien from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nutrien has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.12.

Nutrien Company Profile

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.