CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.50

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%.

CF Industries has raised its dividend by an average of 18.6% annually over the last three years. CF Industries has a payout ratio of 36.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect CF Industries to earn $5.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.3%.

CF Industries Trading Down 0.3 %

CF opened at $92.22 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $89.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.18. The firm has a market cap of $16.05 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98. CF Industries has a twelve month low of $69.13 and a twelve month high of $98.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 2.81.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.50. CF Industries had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 19.45%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that CF Industries will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of CF Industries from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank restated a “sector underperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of CF Industries in a report on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.43.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In other news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.78, for a total value of $635,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,016,314.58. This trade represents a 23.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total value of $264,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,155 shares in the company, valued at $9,077,640. The trade was a 2.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,389 shares of company stock valued at $2,355,425. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Company Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement, and other industrial activities in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Ammonia, Granular Urea, UAN, AN, and Other segments.