Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Stock

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada from $90.00 to $95.00 in a report released on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 7.80% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on CF. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of CF Industries in a report on Monday, December 29th. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 24th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 24th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of CF Industries from $91.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of CF Industries from $94.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CF Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.00.

CF Industries Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:CF opened at $88.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.14. CF Industries has a one year low of $67.34 and a one year high of $104.45. The firm has a market cap of $13.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 2.27.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.47% and a return on equity of 18.14%. CF Industries’s revenue was up 21.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that CF Industries will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 95,289 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,767,000 after purchasing an additional 18,666 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of CF Industries by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 276,542 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,442,000 after buying an additional 15,291 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in CF Industries by 347.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 507,268 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,502,000 after acquiring an additional 393,780 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its position in CF Industries by 2.7% in the second quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 504,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,368,000 after acquiring an additional 13,200 shares during the period. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. increased its stake in CF Industries by 131.4% during the second quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 32,829 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,020,000 after acquiring an additional 18,640 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.