Bank of America Reaffirms “Underperform” Rating for CF Industries (NYSE:CF)

Bank of America reaffirmed their underperform rating on shares of CF Industries (NYSE:CF) in a research report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $82.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $93.00.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CF. Wolfe Research lowered CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $100.00 target price on CF Industries and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised CF Industries from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer lowered CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on CF Industries from $108.00 to $101.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

CF Industries Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of CF stock opened at $85.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 0.94. CF Industries has a twelve month low of $67.34 and a twelve month high of $104.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.27.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 20.19%. CF Industries’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CF Industries will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to purchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. CF Industries’s payout ratio is 26.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.23, for a total value of $1,002,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 87,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,812,522.29. The trade was a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CF Industries

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Planned Solutions Inc. increased its stake in CF Industries by 3.5% in the second quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in CF Industries by 0.8% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 15,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in CF Industries by 1.3% in the first quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 8,727 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $682,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV lifted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 4.1% in the second quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 3,325 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 130 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.