Scotiabank Lowers CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Price Target to $81.00

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) had its price objective cut by Scotiabank from $88.00 to $81.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector underperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America upgraded shares of CF Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on CF Industries from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.86.

CF Industries Price Performance

NYSE:CF opened at $77.58 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $13.50 billion, a PE ratio of 11.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.98. CF Industries has a 12 month low of $69.13 and a 12 month high of $98.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $87.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. CF Industries had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 20.52%. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CF Industries will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CF Industries

In other news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $844,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 15,871 shares in the company, valued at $1,507,745. The trade was a 35.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total value of $325,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,768 shares in the company, valued at $5,828,636.48. The trade was a 5.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,389 shares of company stock valued at $1,455,965 in the last quarter. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,830,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $753,429,000 after purchasing an additional 543,876 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,792,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $494,202,000 after acquiring an additional 225,109 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,821 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $382,901,000 after purchasing an additional 299,173 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,425,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $377,585,000 after purchasing an additional 150,461 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in CF Industries by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,316,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $283,044,000 after purchasing an additional 216,395 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

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.