CF Industries Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:CF)

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 9,109 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 64% compared to the typical volume of 5,547 put options.

Insider Transactions at CF Industries

In related news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $510,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 64,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,442,550. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CF. Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its stake in CF Industries by 0.7% in the third quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 15,598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 5,148 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC increased its holdings in CF Industries by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 6,835 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in CF Industries by 36.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in CF Industries by 0.5% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 33,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,797,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised shares of CF Industries from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Piper Sandler lowered CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on CF Industries in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $99.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 target price (down from $96.00) on shares of CF Industries in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of CF Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $95.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.94.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of CF Industries stock traded up $2.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $80.36. 1,792,245 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,501,967. CF Industries has a 12 month low of $60.08 and a 12 month high of $87.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.77. The company has a market capitalization of $15.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 3.44 and a current ratio of 3.81.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 18.44% and a net margin of 23.00%. The business’s revenue was down 39.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.35 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CF Industries will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. This is a positive change from CF Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.51%.

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.