BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in shares of Agrium Inc. (NYSE:AGU) (TSE:AGU) by 6.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Agrium were worth $1,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning increased its stake in Agrium by 6.1% in the first quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP increased its stake in Agrium by 4.8% in the first quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 74,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,111,000 after buying an additional 3,423 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in Agrium by 5.1% in the first quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 580,374 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,455,000 after buying an additional 28,276 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Agrium during the first quarter valued at about $3,631,000. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its stake in Agrium by 3.6% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 1,276,237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $121,746,000 after buying an additional 43,992 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.42% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Agrium Inc. (NYSE AGU) opened at 96.94 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $98.24 and a 200 day moving average of $95.56. The company has a market cap of $13.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39 and a beta of 0.62. Agrium Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.78 and a 52-week high of $111.88.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be given a $0.875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Agrium’s payout ratio is presently 84.34%.
Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AGU shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Agrium in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. TD Securities set a $99.00 price target on shares of Agrium and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Citigroup Inc. dropped their price target on shares of Agrium from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. Vertical Research raised shares of Agrium from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 19th. Finally, AltaCorp Capital reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Agrium in a research note on Thursday, June 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.31.
Agrium Company Profile
Agrium Inc is a retailer of agricultural products and services in the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay and a multi-national producer and wholesale marketer of nutrients for agricultural and industrial markets. The Company’s segments include Retail and Wholesale. As of December 31, 2016, its Retail business unit marketed crop nutrients, crop protection products, seed, merchandise, application and other agronomic services through 1,500 retail locations in the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.
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