CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nineteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $109.60.

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on CF Industries from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings raised CF Industries from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on CF Industries from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded CF Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 14th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price objective on CF Industries from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th.

CF Industries Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of CF Industries stock opened at $133.55 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $110.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 3.37 and a quick ratio of 2.93. The company has a market capitalization of $20.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.84 and a beta of 0.52. CF Industries has a 1-year low of $67.34 and a 1-year high of $141.96.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that CF Industries will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 18,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.06, for a total value of $2,454,658.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 55,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,586,977.72. The trade was a 24.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael Patrick Mcgrane sold 3,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.50, for a total value of $427,089.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,161 shares in the company, valued at $2,232,256.50. This represents a 16.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 82,408 shares of company stock worth $9,971,298. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,982,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $734,351,000 after buying an additional 165,833 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 480,126 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 acquiring an additional 1,178,516 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew 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 acquiring an additional 476,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew 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 acquiring an additional 381,716 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

About CF Industries

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.