JPMorgan Chase & Co. Downgrades CF Industries (NYSE:CF) to Underweight

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) was downgraded by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $75.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $82.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective indicates a potential downside of 14.84% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on CF. Mizuho lifted their target price on CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays cut shares of CF Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of CF Industries from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of CF Industries in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $77.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.43.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of CF Industries stock opened at $88.07 on Friday. CF Industries has a 1 year low of $69.13 and a 1 year high of $98.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.19 and its 200 day moving average is $83.70. The stock has a market cap of $15.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.52.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 14.57%. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CF Industries will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other CF Industries news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total value of $264,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,155 shares in the company, valued at $9,077,640. This represents a 2.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $142,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 93,986 shares in the company, valued at $8,928,670. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,389 shares of company stock valued at $2,355,425 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of CF Industries by 3.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,286,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $711,003,000 after purchasing an additional 300,050 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in CF Industries by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,567,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $477,668,000 after buying an additional 22,392 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in CF Industries by 15.1% during the 3rd 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. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in CF Industries by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,300,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,582,000 after acquiring an additional 120,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,093,885 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $93,855,000 after acquiring an additional 25,701 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.