CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Receives $89.86 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $89.86.

CF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America raised CF Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on CF Industries from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total transaction of $144,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 92,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,878,656. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $844,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 15,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,507,745. This trade represents a 35.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,889 shares of company stock valued at $1,130,955. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in shares of CF Industries in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 50.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in CF Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CF opened at $72.91 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.03. The company has a market cap of $12.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.84. CF Industries has a one year low of $69.13 and a one year high of $98.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 2.52.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. CF Industries had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 20.52%. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Research analysts predict that CF Industries will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 29.54%.

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.