Insider Selling: CF Industries (NYSE:CF) EVP Sells $799,200.00 in Stock

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) EVP Susan Menzel sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $799,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 73,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,192,133. The trade was a 8.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

CF Industries Stock Up 9.1%

Shares of NYSE:CF opened at $120.07 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $18.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 0.68. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.34 and a 12 month high of $121.80. The company has a current ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $93.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.95.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 20.54%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CF Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in CF Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $193,657,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in CF Industries by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,312,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $333,501,000 after buying an additional 1,178,516 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CF Industries during the second quarter worth $96,560,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in CF Industries by 926.2% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,118,446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $102,897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its position in CF Industries by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,775,106 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $159,227,000 after acquiring an additional 610,259 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CF shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $72.00 price target on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of CF Industries in a research report on Monday, December 29th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on CF Industries from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.87.

CF Industries News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting CF Industries this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Geopolitical-driven demand boost: Coverage says the Iran conflict is tightening global fertilizer markets and lifting near-term demand/pricing for major fertilizer producers, which benefits CF’s ammonia and urea businesses. The Iran war is boosting this farming stock
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Several brokers have lifted price targets recently (Barclays raised its target to $120; other shops nudged targets higher), providing a favorable research backdrop that can amplify buying on positive sector news. CF Industries stock page (MarketBeat)
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals and payout: Recent quarterly results showed revenue and EPS beats and CF pays a modest dividend (annualized $2.00, ~1.8% yield), supporting the bull case that higher fertilizer prices feed through to earnings. CF Industries stock page (MarketBeat)
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional/hedge fund activity: Reporting shows some hedge funds and institutions adjusting positions in CF; institutional ownership remains very high, which can mute volatility as positions are large and long-term. Hedge fund and insider trading news (InsiderMonkey)
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling this week: Multiple officers (EVP, several VPs and SVPs) disclosed sales adding up to roughly $4.2M in proceeds across filings; repeated executive sales are being parsed by the market as potential portfolio diversification or a cautious signal. Insider selling alerts (InsiderTrades)

CF Industries Company Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products for agricultural and industrial customers. The company specializes in the production of ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), nitric acid and ammonium nitrate, which serve as key inputs for fertilizer blends, industrial chemicals and other downstream applications.

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, CF Industries operates production facilities and distribution terminals across North America and the United Kingdom.