CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Rating Increased to Strong Sell at KeyCorp

KeyCorp upgraded shares of CF Industries (NYSE:CF) to a strong sell rating in a report released on Thursday morning,Zacks reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Freedom Capital upgraded CF Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated a “neutral” rating and set a $129.00 price target on shares of CF Industries in a report on Friday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on CF Industries from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. HSBC reduced their price target on CF Industries from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Freedom Broker cut CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.47.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of CF opened at $135.11 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $20.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.02, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.40. CF Industries has a fifty-two week low of $75.42 and a fifty-two week high of $141.96. The company has a quick ratio of 4.32, a current ratio of 4.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $123.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.53.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.63 by ($0.90). CF Industries had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 24.41%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that CF Industries will post 13.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is an increase from CF Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CF. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of CF Industries by 10,624.0% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 19,345,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,094,311,000 after acquiring an additional 19,164,804 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in CF Industries in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,410,607,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CF Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $193,657,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in CF Industries in the second quarter valued at approximately $198,857,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in CF Industries in the second quarter valued at approximately $186,353,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Company Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a global producer of nitrogen fertilizer and other nitrogen-based products. The company manufactures ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), ammonium nitrate and nitric acid, which are used primarily in agriculture to support crop production. Its industrial products also serve customers in areas such as emissions control, plastics, resins, chemicals and other manufacturing applications.

CF Industries operates production facilities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom and supplies agricultural and industrial customers in North America and international markets.