Royal Bank of Canada Has Lowered Expectations for CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Stock Price

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) had its price target lowered by Royal Bank of Canada from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America raised CF Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on CF Industries from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on CF Industries from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CF Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.14.

CF Industries Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of CF stock opened at $79.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $13.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $87.35 and a 200-day moving average of $85.55. The company has a current ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. CF Industries has a 1-year low of $69.13 and a 1-year high of $98.25.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 20.52%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CF Industries will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CF Industries news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $844,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 15,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,507,745. This trade represents a 35.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total value of $144,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 92,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,878,656. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,389 shares of company stock valued at $1,455,965 over the last ninety days. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in CF Industries in the fourth quarter worth $28,156,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of CF Industries by 214.5% in the fourth quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 73,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,280,000 after purchasing an additional 50,200 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its position in shares of CF Industries by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 3,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $100,000. 93.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.