One-glance verdict
Within fair range
$58.27 our estimate vs market $79.47
Wall Street consensus: $76.43 (31.2% higher than our fair-value estimate)
36% above our estimate
Fundamentals snapshot
Nutrien Ltd.
NTR · NYQ · Basic Materials · Agricultural Inputs
Current price
$79.47
52-week range
$53.03 - $85.36
Market cap
$37.92B
Balance sheet
Watch
5.31x Adequate
Net debt $11.81B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
3 Risks
3 rewards · 3 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 3.5% last year.
- Reward Returns 9.4% on equity, ahead of 66% of its peers.
- Risk Forward P/E (16.2x) is higher than trailing (16.1x) - earnings are expected to drop.
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 26.9% to 17.5% over 3 years.
What this company does
Nutrien Ltd.
Nutrien is the world's largest fertilizer company, selling essential crop nutrients like potash, nitrogen, and phosphate that help farmers grow more food. The company makes money both by producing these fertilizers and by selling them directly to farmers through its vast network of retail farm centers. This makes Nutrien a key player in the global food supply chain (the entire process of getting food from the farm to your table).
How the company got here
Nutrien was officially formed on January 1, 2018, but its roots go back much further. It was created through a major merger of two Canadian agricultural giants: PotashCorp and Agrium. PotashCorp was a massive producer of fertilizers, especially potash, which is a key nutrient for crops. Agrium had a large retail business, called Ag Solutions, that sold seeds, crop protection products, and fertilizer directly to farmers. The idea was to combine a huge fertilizer manufacturer with a vast network of farm stores to create a company that could serve farmers from the mine all the way to the field.
What it actually does
Nutrien helps farmers around the world grow more food. Think of it as a one-stop-shop for many things a farmer needs to plant and grow a successful crop. The company produces three key types of crop nutrients (fertilizers) and also runs a massive network of retail stores where farmers can buy these nutrients, along with seeds, and products that protect crops from weeds and insects. Beyond just selling products, they also provide advice and services to farmers to help them get the best possible harvest, or yield (the amount of crop they can grow on their land).
Retail
This is Nutrien's storefront business, operating under the name Nutrien Ag Solutions. It's the largest part of the company by sales and consists of over 2,000 locations across North America, Australia, and South America that work directly with farmers. Farmers visit these stores to buy seeds, fertilizers, and crop protection products, and also to get expert advice from agronomists (crop scientists) on how to best manage their fields. This segment is all about building direct relationships with growers and providing them with a full range of products and services for their farms.
Potash
This part of the business involves mining and producing potash, a nutrient that helps plants with water absorption and disease resistance. Nutrien is the world's largest producer of potash, with several low-cost mines located in Saskatchewan, Canada. The company sells this potash in bulk to other businesses worldwide and also supplies it to its own retail stores. While the Retail segment often brings in more sales dollars, the Potash business can be a huge driver of the company's profit, especially when global prices for fertilizer are high.
Nitrogen
This segment produces nitrogen-based fertilizers, which are vital for making plants green and leafy. Nutrien is one of the top three nitrogen producers globally, converting natural gas into products like ammonia and urea that are essential for crop growth. These products are sold to both agricultural customers for use as fertilizer and to industrial customers who use them in things like plastics and emission control systems. This business is sensitive to the price of natural gas, which is a key ingredient.
Phosphate
The Phosphate division mines and manufactures phosphate fertilizers, which are crucial for root development and helping plants mature. Nutrien is a major producer in North America, making fertilizer products as well as phosphate-based ingredients for animal feed and even food products like soft drinks. While smaller than the Potash and Nitrogen segments, it's an important piece of the company's ability to offer farmers a complete range of the three primary crop nutrients.
What management is betting on now
The company's current focus is on strengthening its core businesses and making its operations more efficient. Management is prioritizing investments in its North American fertilizer production to ensure it remains a low-cost producer and to improve the reliability of its facilities. They are also focused on growing the Retail business, particularly by selling more of their own proprietary products (unique branded products that can be more profitable). A key goal is to use this integrated system of production and retail to better serve farmers and generate more consistent cash flow, even when fertilizer prices fluctuate.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $58.27 vs current price $79.47
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $76.43 (31.2% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $58.27 a share — about 26.7% away from today's price of $79.47, so the stock currently looks fairly priced.
Is it drowning in debt?
Watch
Net debt $11.8B. Interest coverage 5.3x.
Net debt
$11.81B
Interest coverage
5.31x
Nutrien Ltd.'s profit covers its interest bill about 5.3 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here.
Watch
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
NTR
BASELINE
Nutrien Ltd.
Total debt $12.73B Interest coverage 5.31x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $3.61B Interest coverage 16.38x +209% vs NTR Carries about 3.1x more debt cushion than NTR.
Total debt $6.08B Interest coverage 4.47x -16% vs NTR Carries about 1.2x less debt cushion than NTR.
Total debt $4.87B Interest coverage 14.55x +174% vs NTR Carries about 2.7x more debt cushion than NTR.
Total debt $3.30B Interest coverage 4.65x -12% vs NTR Has roughly the same debt cushion as NTR.
Total debt $4.40B Interest coverage 1.39x -74% vs NTR Carries about 3.8x less debt cushion than NTR.
What you should know
The case for and against NTR
3 Rewards
3 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 3.5% last year.
-
Returns 9.4% on equity, ahead of 66% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 4/10 years.
Risks
-
Forward P/E (16.2x) is higher than trailing (16.1x) - earnings are expected to drop.
-
Operating margin compressed from 26.9% to 17.5% over 3 years.
-
Net debt grew 2.6% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
16.09x
Forward P/E
16.24x
P/B
1.47x
P/S
1.39x
EV/EBITDA
8.81x
PEG ratio
1.35x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
32.1%
Operating margin
17.5%
Net margin
8.7%
ROE
9.4%
ROA
4.3%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.49x
Current ratio
1.39x
Quick ratio
0.83x
Total debt
$12.73B
Total cash
$921.00M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$27.29B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
-10.8%
EPS TTM
4.94
EPS 5Y CAGR
-31.0%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$4.01B
Free CF TTM
$2.00B
FCF margin
7.3%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
2.8%
Payout ratio
44.3%
Last ex-div date
2026-09-29