CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Trading Up 3.5% - Should You Buy?

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 3.5% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $88.95 and last traded at $88.75. Approximately 524,670 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 2,066,833 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CF. UBS Group lifted their target price on CF Industries from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on CF Industries from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Bank of America downgraded CF Industries from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $83.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $88.42.

CF Industries Stock Performance

The company's 50 day moving average price is $83.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.80. The company has a market cap of $15.21 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 2.81.

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

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is 31.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,201 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.02, for a total transaction of $648,234.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 29,211 shares in the company, valued at $2,629,574.22. The trade was a 19.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 2,000 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $180,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,964,120. This represents a 2.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CF. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in CF Industries by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,561 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 15.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 212,126 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $17,651,000 after buying an additional 28,414 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the 1st quarter valued at about $222,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,089 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in CF Industries by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 232,096 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $19,313,000 after acquiring an additional 17,630 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

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.

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