CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Trading Up 5.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) shot up 5.3% during trading on Tuesday after Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $125.00. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. CF Industries traded as high as $139.45 and last traded at $137.9810. 1,031,443 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 4,121,893 shares. The stock had previously closed at $130.98.

CF has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on CF Industries from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $72.00 price objective on CF Industries in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on CF Industries from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on CF Industries from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut CF Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, VP Richard A. Hoker sold 3,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.38, for a total value of $438,704.62. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 31,036 shares in the company, valued at $3,891,293.68. This represents a 10.13% 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, SVP Michael Patrick Mcgrane sold 3,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.50, for a total value of $427,089.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,161 shares in the company, valued at $2,232,256.50. This trade represents a 16.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 82,408 shares of company stock valued at $9,971,298 in the last quarter. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in CF Industries by 78.0% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in CF Industries by 396.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in CF Industries in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Peterson Wealth Services grew its position in CF Industries by 451.3% in the third quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in CF Industries in the third quarter valued at $41,000. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CF Industries Stock Up 5.3%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 2.93, a current ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.06. CF Industries had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 20.54%.The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

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.