UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Stock Price

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) had its price target lowered by UBS Group from $92.00 to $90.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays downgraded shares of CF Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $96.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector underperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of CF Industries in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.29.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of CF stock opened at $80.22 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $88.14 and a 200-day moving average of $85.46. The company has a market cap of $13.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.52. CF Industries has a one year low of $69.13 and a one year high of $98.25.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 14.57%. Equities research analysts forecast that CF Industries will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is 31.65%.

Insider Transactions at CF Industries

In other news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $844,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 15,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,507,745. This trade represents a 35.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total transaction of $144,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 92,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,878,656. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,389 shares of company stock worth $1,455,965 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,830,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $753,429,000 after acquiring an additional 543,876 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,792,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $494,202,000 after acquiring an additional 225,109 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,821 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $382,901,000 after acquiring an additional 299,173 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,425,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $377,585,000 after acquiring an additional 150,461 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,316,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $283,044,000 after acquiring an additional 216,395 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is currently 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.