Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Grows Stock Holdings in Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its position in shares of Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE:NTR) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 150,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Nutrien were worth $8,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NTR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Nutrien during the fourth quarter valued at about $409,603,000. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in shares of Nutrien during the first quarter valued at about $521,017,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 51.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,853,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,881,000 after acquiring an additional 2,322,679 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 18,312.9% during the fourth quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,595,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nutrien by 79.6% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,490,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $362,929,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,030 shares in the last quarter. 63.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nutrien Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NTR traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $52.78. 1,238,622 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,045,139. Nutrien Ltd. has a 1 year low of $47.90 and a 1 year high of $72.96. The company has a market cap of $26.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.86, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.31.

Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.35). Nutrien had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 8.59%. The business had revenue of $5.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Nutrien Ltd. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nutrien Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. This is a positive change from Nutrien’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Nutrien’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NTR shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Nutrien in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Nutrien from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Nutrien from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. CIBC cut their price target on shares of Nutrien from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Nutrien from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $54.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.95.

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.