CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Given New $115.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) had its price objective upped by Scotiabank from $85.00 to $115.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on CF. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CF Industries from $95.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on CF Industries from $95.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price objective on CF Industries from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $72.00 price objective on CF Industries in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded CF Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.87.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF stock opened at $115.84 on Monday. 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 has a 1 year low of $73.56 and a 1 year high of $141.96. The firm has a market cap of $17.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.73.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.06. CF Industries had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 20.54%.The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that CF Industries will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.22%.

Insider Transactions at CF Industries

In related news, VP Richard A. Hoker sold 6,184 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.33, for a total value of $676,096.72. Following the sale, the vice president owned 34,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,775,711.55. This trade represents a 15.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.01, for a total value of $1,190,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 87,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,384,336.56. This trade represents a 10.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 82,408 shares of company stock worth $9,971,298. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,013,846 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $449,742,000 after purchasing an additional 480,126 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,312,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $333,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,516 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,587,999 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $321,852,000 after purchasing an additional 476,769 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,570,249 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $276,123,000 after purchasing an additional 381,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,351,194 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $300,602,000 after purchasing an additional 63,938 shares during the last quarter. 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.