Royal Bank of Canada Cuts CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Price Target to $90.00

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Free Report) had its target price decreased by Royal Bank of Canada from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the basic materials company's stock.

CF has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CF Industries from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays lowered shares of CF Industries from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America upgraded shares of CF Industries from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on CF Industries from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a "sector underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.14.

CF Industries Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of CF Industries stock traded up $1.41 on Tuesday, reaching $80.99. 4,171,708 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,592,318. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $87.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.55. The company has a current ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.97. CF Industries has a fifty-two week low of $69.13 and a fifty-two week high of $98.25.

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

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. CF Industries's payout ratio is presently 29.54%.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In related news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $142,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 93,986 shares in the company, valued at $8,928,670. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the company'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 sale, the vice president now owns 15,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,507,745. This represents a 35.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,389 shares of company stock valued at $1,455,965 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CF. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CF Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $131,350,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,804,718 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $239,299,000 after purchasing an additional 637,784 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in CF Industries by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,188,648 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $359,386,000 after purchasing an additional 549,569 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in CF Industries by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,830,621 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $753,429,000 after purchasing an additional 543,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne Allianz Polska S.A. bought a new stake in CF Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $37,247,000. 93.06% of the stock is 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.