Brokerages Set CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Target Price at $96.87

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $96.8667.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 24th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of CF Industries from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CF Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 14th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $72.00 price objective on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on CF Industries from $83.00 to $78.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 18,041 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.06, for a total value of $2,454,658.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 55,762 shares in the company, valued at $7,586,977.72. This trade represents a 24.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Richard A. Hoker sold 6,184 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.33, for a total value of $676,096.72. Following the sale, the vice president owned 34,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,775,711.55. This trade represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 71,409 shares of company stock worth $8,589,559 in the last 90 days. 0.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CF. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in CF Industries by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 161.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 11,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 7,324 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 14,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after acquiring an additional 4,252 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 21.8% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 141.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CF Industries Stock Performance

NYSE CF opened at $122.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a current ratio of 3.37. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $96.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.86. CF Industries has a fifty-two week low of $67.34 and a fifty-two week high of $137.44.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 20.54%.CF Industries’s revenue was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that CF Industries will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.22%.

CF Industries Company Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products for agricultural and industrial customers. The company specializes in the production of ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), nitric acid and ammonium nitrate, which serve as key inputs for fertilizer blends, industrial chemicals and other downstream applications.

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, CF Industries operates production facilities and distribution terminals across North America and the United Kingdom.