CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Receives Sector Perform Rating from Scotiabank

CF Industries (NYSE:CF)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Scotiabank in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $82.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $81.00. Scotiabank’s target price suggests a potential downside of 1.00% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CF. Oppenheimer cut CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on CF Industries and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded CF Industries from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays upped their target price on CF Industries from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on CF Industries from $103.00 to $101.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.77.

CF Industries Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:CF opened at $82.83 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 0.94. CF Industries has a 1 year low of $67.34 and a 1 year high of $104.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 2.84. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.29.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.02. CF Industries had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 20.19%. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that CF Industries will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to repurchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at CF Industries

In related news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.23, for a total transaction of $1,002,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 87,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,812,522.29. This trade represents a 10.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in CF Industries during the 2nd quarter worth $1,382,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CF Industries by 9,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 4,550 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in CF Industries during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,620,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in CF Industries by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $745,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in CF Industries by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 14,568 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.