CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) was downgraded by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $75.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $82.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would suggest a potential downside of 14.84% from the company’s current price.

CF has been the topic of a number of other reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on CF Industries in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $77.00 price target for the company. Barclays downgraded CF Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.43.

CF Industries Trading Down 7.5 %

Shares of CF stock opened at $88.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, 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 current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.70. CF Industries has a 1 year low of $69.13 and a 1 year high of $98.25.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted 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. CF Industries had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 14.57%. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. CF Industries’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that CF Industries will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other CF Industries news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.78, for a total transaction of $635,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,016,314.58. This represents a 23.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total transaction of $325,010.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,828,636.48. The trade was a 5.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,389 shares of company stock worth $2,355,425. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted 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 worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in CF Industries by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,784 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 0.8% in the third 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 period. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.