CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF) – What Are Analysts Saying About This Stock?

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $121.94.

A number of research firms have commented on CF. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen cut CF Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on CF Industries in a research note on Friday, September 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $162.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on CF Industries from $123.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, set a $115.00 target price on CF Industries and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of CF opened at $123.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.86, a quick ratio of 4.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $18.66 billion, a PE ratio of 9.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.96. CF Industries has a 12-month low of $75.42 and a 12-month high of $141.96.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.63 by ($0.90). The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 24.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that CF Industries will post 13.68 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 30th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in CF Industries in the second quarter valued at $1,410,607,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in CF Industries by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,458,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $579,062,000 after buying an additional 146,682 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in CF Industries by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,048,671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $265,999,000 after buying an additional 158,119 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in CF Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at about $198,857,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,747,078 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $189,139,000 after acquiring an additional 32,293 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CF Industries Company Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products. The company produces ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate, ammonium nitrate and nitric acid, which are used primarily in agricultural fertilizers and a range of industrial applications. CF Industries also supplies products such as diesel exhaust fluid and other nitrogen-based solutions.

The company serves agricultural and industrial customers in North America and internationally. Its manufacturing and distribution operations include facilities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, supported by an extensive logistics and distribution network.