CF Industries Holdings, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 (NYSE:CF)

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th.

CF Industries has increased its dividend by an average of 18.6% annually over the last three years. CF Industries has a payout ratio of 36.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect CF Industries to earn $5.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.3%.

CF Industries Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE CF opened at $92.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. CF Industries has a 12 month low of $69.13 and a 12 month high of $98.25. The company has a market capitalization of $16.05 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.33.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its 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. CF Industries had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 19.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that CF Industries will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at CF Industries

In related news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.78, for a total value of $635,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,211 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,314.58. This trade represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were 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 owns 103,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,077,640. This trade represents a 2.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,389 shares of company stock valued at $2,355,425. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CF shares. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on CF Industries in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank restated a “sector underperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on CF Industries from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of CF Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.43.

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.