CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Sets New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $95.72 and last traded at $95.46, with a volume of 3067763 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $88.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on CF Industries in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.38.

CF Industries Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The firm has a market cap of $16.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.98. The business's 50-day moving average price is $87.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.28.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 14.57%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $264,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,155 shares in the company, valued at $9,077,640. This represents a 2.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.78, for a total transaction of $635,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,016,314.58. This trade represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,500 shares of company stock worth $1,224,470 over the last ninety days. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CF. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of CF Industries by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,286,745 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $711,003,000 after buying an additional 300,050 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in CF Industries by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,567,230 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $477,668,000 after purchasing an additional 22,392 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $359,386,000 after purchasing an additional 549,569 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,871,116 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $212,823,000 after buying an additional 198,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 2.8% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,193,528 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $162,584,000 after buying an additional 59,674 shares during the period. 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.