CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Upgraded to Neutral at Bank of America

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Bank of America from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $84.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 7.14% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays cut shares of CF Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector underperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.14.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of CF opened at $78.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $87.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.64. CF Industries has a 1-year low of $69.13 and a 1-year high of $98.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total transaction of $144,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 92,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,878,656. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 15,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,507,745. The trade was a 35.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,389 shares of company stock valued at $1,455,965. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CF Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $131,350,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in CF Industries by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,804,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $239,299,000 after buying an additional 637,784 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in CF Industries by 15.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,188,648 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $359,386,000 after buying an additional 549,569 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of CF Industries by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,830,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $753,429,000 after acquiring an additional 543,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne Allianz Polska S.A. bought a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,247,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

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.