CF Industries (NYSE:CF) EVP Sells $1,190,100.00 in Stock

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) EVP Bert Frost sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.01, for a total transaction of $1,190,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 87,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,384,336.56. This trade represents a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

CF Industries Stock Up 9.1%

Shares of NYSE CF opened at $120.07 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $93.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.95. The company has a current ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.34 and a 12-month high of $121.80. The company has a market cap of $18.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 0.68.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.06. CF Industries had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 20.54%.The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 24th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on shares of CF Industries from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho set a $95.00 price target on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.87.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CF. State Street Corp grew its holdings in CF Industries by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,982,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $734,351,000 after acquiring an additional 165,833 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,013,846 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $449,742,000 after purchasing an additional 480,126 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 37.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,312,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $333,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,516 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 15.3% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,587,999 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $321,852,000 after purchasing an additional 476,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in CF Industries by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,570,249 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $276,123,000 after purchasing an additional 381,716 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting CF Industries this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Geopolitical-driven demand boost: Coverage says the Iran conflict is tightening global fertilizer markets and lifting near-term demand/pricing for major fertilizer producers, which benefits CF’s ammonia and urea businesses. The Iran war is boosting this farming stock
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Several brokers have lifted price targets recently (Barclays raised its target to $120; other shops nudged targets higher), providing a favorable research backdrop that can amplify buying on positive sector news. CF Industries stock page (MarketBeat)
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals and payout: Recent quarterly results showed revenue and EPS beats and CF pays a modest dividend (annualized $2.00, ~1.8% yield), supporting the bull case that higher fertilizer prices feed through to earnings. CF Industries stock page (MarketBeat)
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional/hedge fund activity: Reporting shows some hedge funds and institutions adjusting positions in CF; institutional ownership remains very high, which can mute volatility as positions are large and long-term. Hedge fund and insider trading news (InsiderMonkey)
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling this week: Multiple officers (EVP, several VPs and SVPs) disclosed sales adding up to roughly $4.2M in proceeds across filings; repeated executive sales are being parsed by the market as potential portfolio diversification or a cautious signal. Insider selling alerts (InsiderTrades)

About CF Industries

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products for agricultural and industrial customers. The company specializes in the production of ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), nitric acid and ammonium nitrate, which serve as key inputs for fertilizer blends, industrial chemicals and other downstream applications.

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, CF Industries operates production facilities and distribution terminals across North America and the United Kingdom.