Virtu Financial LLC Sells 7,356 Shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Virtu Financial LLC decreased its position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 43.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,607 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,356 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Nutrien by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,742,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,812,000 after purchasing an additional 157,932 shares during the period. Covea Finance increased its holdings in Nutrien by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Covea Finance now owns 55,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Nutrien by 12.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,396,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,200,000 after buying an additional 151,596 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Nutrien by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,480,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,264,000 after buying an additional 80,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Secured Retirement Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nutrien during the fourth quarter worth $654,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.10% of the company’s stock.

Nutrien Stock Performance

Shares of NTR stock opened at $50.48 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.64 and a 200 day moving average of $48.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.81. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1 year low of $43.70 and a 1 year high of $60.87.

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

Nutrien Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors 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 4.32%. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 159.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Nutrien from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Nutrien from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Nutrien in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Nutrien in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.00.

Nutrien Company Profile

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.