CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,150,000 shares, a decrease of 8.5% from the May 31st total of 5,630,000 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CF shares. Scotiabank decreased their price target on CF Industries from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of CF Industries from $82.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price target (down previously from $96.00) on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CF Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.00.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in CF Industries in the 2nd quarter worth about $207,000. Aurora Investment Counsel raised its holdings in CF Industries by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 21,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,784,000 after buying an additional 1,940 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings in CF Industries by 37.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,063,854 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $254,920,000 after buying an additional 835,557 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its stake in CF Industries by 19.2% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 232,167 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,318,000 after buying an additional 37,459 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of CF Industries stock traded down $0.87 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $69.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,879,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,377,968. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 3.55 and a current ratio of 3.94. CF Industries has a fifty-two week low of $67.97 and a fifty-two week high of $87.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $76.29 and its 200-day moving average is $78.61. The company has a market cap of $12.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.95.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.44). CF Industries had a net margin of 19.03% and a return on equity of 14.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 26.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that CF Industries will post 5.26 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is 33.22%.

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.