CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $90.15.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CF shares. Bank of America upgraded CF Industries from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group lowered their price objective 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. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of CF Industries from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CF traded up $1.04 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $76.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,355,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,678,838. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The firm has a market cap of $12.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $86.93 and a 200-day moving average of $85.56. CF Industries has a 12 month low of $69.13 and a 12 month high of $98.25.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CF Industries will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total transaction of $144,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 92,486 shares in the company, valued at $8,878,656. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $844,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 15,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,507,745. This trade represents a 35.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,889 shares of company stock worth $1,130,955. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CF Industries

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new stake in CF Industries in the fourth quarter worth $397,000. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $417,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $15,832,000. Brooklyn FI LLC bought a new position in CF Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $437,000. Finally, Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in CF Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $28,156,000. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CF Industries Company Profile

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.