CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $92.38.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CF shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on CF Industries in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Mizuho boosted their price target on CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on CF Industries from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th.

Insider Activity

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total transaction of $144,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 92,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,878,656. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $264,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,155 shares in the company, valued at $9,077,640. The trade was a 2.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,389 shares of company stock worth $2,355,425 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CF Industries in the second quarter valued at approximately $703,000. Choreo LLC raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 24.5% in the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 7,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 1,430 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 15.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 276,289 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,479,000 after acquiring an additional 37,011 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 32.9% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 21,766 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF stock opened at $97.01 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $88.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.79. CF Industries has a 12-month low of $69.13 and a 12-month high of $98.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $16.88 billion, a PE ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.98.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that CF Industries will post 6.38 EPS for the current year.

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.