CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Upgraded by Bank of America to Neutral Rating

Bank of America upgraded shares of CF Industries (NYSE:CF) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $84.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on CF. UBS Group lowered their target price on CF Industries from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays cut CF Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector underperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of CF Industries in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.86.

CF Industries Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE CF opened at $77.58 on Monday. CF Industries has a 52 week low of $69.13 and a 52 week high of $98.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $87.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.46, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.98.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 15.50%. As a group, analysts anticipate that CF Industries will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.54%.

Insider Transactions at CF Industries

In other news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 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 $844,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 15,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,507,745. This trade represents a 35.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total transaction of $325,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,828,636.48. This represents a 5.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,389 shares of company stock valued at $1,455,965. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in CF Industries during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in CF Industries during the third quarter worth $39,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in CF Industries by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in CF Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by 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.