Short Interest in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Expands By 14.2%

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) saw a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,950,000 shares, a growth of 14.2% from the August 31st total of 3,460,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,730,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in CF Industries in the first quarter worth about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 40.4% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in CF Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. nVerses Capital LLC grew its position in CF Industries by 250.0% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in CF Industries during the first quarter worth $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of CF Industries from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank increased their target price on CF Industries from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on CF Industries from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.73.

CF Industries Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of CF stock opened at $85.80 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.95. The company has a quick ratio of 4.19, a current ratio of 4.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. CF Industries has a 12 month low of $69.13 and a 12 month high of $87.82. The company has a market cap of $15.68 billion, a PE ratio of 14.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.95.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.50. CF Industries had a return on equity of 12.96% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that CF Industries will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. 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.