CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $95.72 and last traded at $95.46, with a volume of 3067763 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $88.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CF shares. Oppenheimer started coverage on CF Industries in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on CF Industries in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $77.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.38.

CF Industries Trading Up 1.6 %

The company has a market cap of $16.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.43. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.50. CF Industries had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 19.45%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,507,745. This trade represents a 35.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 3,000 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total value of $264,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,077,640. This represents a 2.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,889 shares of company stock worth $2,211,425 over the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in CF Industries in the 2nd quarter worth about $703,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in CF Industries by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 276,289 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,479,000 after buying an additional 37,011 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in CF Industries by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 1,502 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in CF Industries by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 280,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,800,000 after buying an additional 21,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in CF Industries by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,871,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $212,823,000 after buying an additional 198,246 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.