Nutrien (NTR) shares ended the last trading session 5.8% higher at $83.94. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 8.5% gain over the past four weeks.
NTR’s shares rallied after Jefferies reportedly upgraded it to “Buy” from “Hold” and raised its price target to $96 from $74 amid a spike in fertilizer prices driven by the war in the Middle East.
This producer of potash and other fertilizers is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.49 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +345.5%. Revenues are expected to be $5.32 billion, up 4.4% from the year-ago quarter.
While earnings and revenue growth expectations are important in evaluating the potential strength in a stock, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
For Nutrien, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. And a stock's price usually doesn't keep moving higher in the absence of any trend in earnings estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on NTR going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>
Nutrien is a member of the Zacks Fertilizers industry. One other stock in the same industry, CF Industries (CF), finished the last trading session 13.2% higher at $136. CF has returned 23.9% over the past month.
CF's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed +9.1% over the past month to $2.12. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of +14.6%. CF currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
