Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Stock Price

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) had its price objective upped by Royal Bank Of Canada from $100.00 to $125.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on CF. Zacks Research downgraded CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of CF Industries from $97.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $72.00 target price on shares of CF Industries in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of CF Industries from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.60.

CF Industries Stock Up 2.0%

NYSE:CF opened at $133.55 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84 and a beta of 0.52. CF Industries has a one year low of $67.34 and a one year high of $141.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a current ratio of 3.37.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 20.54%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that CF Industries will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CF Industries

In other news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 10,000 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.01, for a total transaction of $1,190,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 87,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,384,336.56. The trade was a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael Patrick Mcgrane sold 3,666 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.50, for a total value of $427,089.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,232,256.50. This trade represents a 16.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 82,408 shares of company stock worth $9,971,298. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CF Industries

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in CF Industries by 11.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 232,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,868,000 after purchasing an additional 23,942 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in CF Industries by 878.2% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 17,941 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,609,000 after purchasing an additional 16,107 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in CF Industries by 19.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 369,321 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,128,000 after purchasing an additional 61,140 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CF Industries during the third quarter worth approximately $677,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd bought a new stake in CF Industries during the third quarter worth approximately $376,000. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Company Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products for agricultural and industrial customers. The company specializes in the production of ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), nitric acid and ammonium nitrate, which serve as key inputs for fertilizer blends, industrial chemicals and other downstream applications.

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, CF Industries operates production facilities and distribution terminals across North America and the United Kingdom.