CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $92.44.

Several brokerages have recently commented on CF. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on CF Industries from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 26th. Scotiabank lowered shares of CF Industries from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on CF Industries from $80.00 to $92.00 in a report on Monday, August 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in CF Industries by 72,177.8% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 119,173,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,273,046,000 after buying an additional 119,008,926 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 101.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,014,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $342,026,000 after acquiring an additional 2,017,325 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in CF Industries by 221.8% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,825,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $204,793,000 after acquiring an additional 1,947,268 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CF Industries in the 4th quarter worth $159,602,000. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new position in CF Industries during the 3rd quarter worth about $160,475,000. 90.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF Industries stock opened at $80.05 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 4.52 and a quick ratio of 4.18. The company has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a PE ratio of 7.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.98. CF Industries has a one year low of $60.08 and a one year high of $109.79.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.17). CF Industries had a return on equity of 25.77% and a net margin of 27.53%. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CF Industries will post 8.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 15th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 14.88%.

CF Industries Company Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc manufactures and sells hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement, and other industrial activities worldwide. Its principal products include anhydrous ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate, and ammonium nitrate products. The company also offers diesel exhaust fluid, urea liquor, nitric acid, and aqua ammonia products; and compound fertilizer products with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.