New firm keeps its dividend promise

Article Excerpt

NUTRIEN LTD. $65 (Toronto symbol NTR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 644.2 million; Market cap: $41.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: n.a.; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.nutrien.com) is the new firm formed by the merger of Agrium (old symbol AGU) and rival fertilizer producer Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (old symbol POT). On January 1, 2018, Potash Corp. shareholders received 0.40 shares in Nutrien for each POT share they held; Agrium investors received 2.23 shares for each AGU share. Potash Corp. investors now own 52% of the new company, and Agrium shareholders own the remaining 48%. Nutrien will begin paying a regular quarterly dividend of $0.40 U.S. a share on April 20, 2018. An annual rate of $1.60 U.S. yields 3.2%. That rate is roughly 27% higher than the combined payouts of Agrium and Potash Corp. Nutrien also plans to buy back up to 5% of its outstanding shares over the next year. Nutrien is a buy. buy…