CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Receives $95.00 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $95.00.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CF shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $108.00 to $101.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $104.00 to $95.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of CF Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of CF Industries from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $75.00 to $92.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on shares of CF Industries and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th.

CF Industries Stock Up 5.1%

Shares of CF Industries stock opened at $91.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day moving average is $87.58 and its 200 day moving average is $85.79. CF Industries has a twelve month low of $67.34 and a twelve month high of $104.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.19% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that CF Industries will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.11%.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CF. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 21.8% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 119.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 1,497.3% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 109,240 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,537,000 after purchasing an additional 102,401 shares in the last quarter. Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 77.0% in the first quarter. Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd now owns 584,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,640,000 after purchasing an additional 254,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the first quarter worth $1,716,000. 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.