Royal Bank of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Stock Price

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from $95.00 to $100.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the basic materials company's stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on CF. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on CF Industries from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays raised their price target on CF Industries from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of CF Industries from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CF Industries presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $88.08.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of CF traded up $2.35 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $86.41. 2,169,789 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,076,564. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 4.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.97. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $83.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.44. CF Industries has a 52-week low of $69.13 and a 52-week high of $90.86.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.50. The business 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 business's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that CF Industries will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.65%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,201 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.02, for a total value of $648,234.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 29,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,629,574.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other CF Industries news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,201 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.02, for a total transaction of $648,234.02. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 29,211 shares in the company, valued at $2,629,574.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $180,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,964,120. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CF Industries

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in CF Industries by 132.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 499 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 262.6% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 660 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of CF Industries by 40.4% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 664 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of CF Industries in the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.