Wall Street Zen Upgrades CF Industries (NYSE:CF) to “Buy”

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. UBS Group cut their target price on CF Industries from $96.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. CIBC assumed coverage on shares of CF Industries in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $87.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of CF Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.88.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CF opened at $77.84 on Friday. CF Industries has a twelve month low of $67.34 and a twelve month high of $104.45. The company has a market cap of $12.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.38 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.13. CF Industries had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 20.47%.The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that CF Industries will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in CF Industries by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,040,601 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,644,323,000 after acquiring an additional 319,343 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 2.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,982,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $734,351,000 after purchasing an additional 165,833 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 4.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,708,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $446,130,000 after purchasing an additional 240,756 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in 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. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its holdings in CF Industries by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,623,708 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $283,169,000 after buying an additional 307,092 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About CF Industries

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.