CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Receives “Sector Underperform” Rating from Scotiabank

CF Industries (NYSE:CF)‘s stock had its “sector underperform” rating reaffirmed by Scotiabank in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $88.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target would indicate a potential downside of 1.53% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of CF Industries in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CF Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.43.

CF Industries Stock Performance

CF stock traded down $5.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $89.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,210,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,906,668. The firm has a market cap of $15.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 2.81. CF Industries has a 12 month low of $69.13 and a 12 month high of $98.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $89.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.48.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 14.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that CF Industries will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 represents a 35.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total transaction of $325,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,828,636.48. This trade represents a 5.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,389 shares of company stock worth $2,355,425 in the last three months. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in CF Industries by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in CF Industries by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 23,353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,004,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC grew its position in CF Industries by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $772,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.