CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Short Interest Up 14.2% in September

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,950,000 shares, an increase of 14.2% from the August 31st total of 3,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in CF Industries in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 40.4% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the second quarter valued at about $50,000. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings in CF Industries by 250.0% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in CF Industries in the 1st quarter valued at about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF opened at $85.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.23, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $79.02 and a 200-day moving average of $77.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a current ratio of 4.70. CF Industries has a 1-year low of $69.13 and a 1-year high of $87.82.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 12.96% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.70 EPS. Equities analysts expect that CF Industries will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is currently 33.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of CF Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $80.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on CF Industries from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on CF Industries from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Scotiabank upped their price target on CF Industries from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.73.

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.