CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Berenberg Bank raised their price target on the stock from $68.00 to $69.00. The stock had previously closed at $77.80, but opened at $80.60. Berenberg Bank currently has a hold rating on the stock. CF Industries shares last traded at $80.08, with a volume of 531,258 shares.

CF has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays raised shares of CF Industries from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of CF Industries in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of CF Industries in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Piper Sandler lowered CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered CF Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $87.94.

Insider Activity

In other CF Industries news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 6,000 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $510,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 64,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,442,550. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CF. River Street Advisors LLC increased its holdings in CF Industries by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 4,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. bought a new position in CF Industries during the first quarter worth about $863,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries in the first quarter worth about $205,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 12.3% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 5,954 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CF Industries by 39.9% in the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 4,106 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CF Industries Stock Up 3.5 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $81.34 and its 200 day moving average is $79.77. The company has a market capitalization of $15.11 billion, a PE ratio of 9.92, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 3.44 and a current ratio of 3.81.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.12). CF Industries had a return on equity of 18.44% and a net margin of 23.00%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.35 earnings per share. CF Industries’s revenue was down 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This is a positive change from CF Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. CF Industries’s payout ratio is presently 25.51%.

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.