Scotiabank Reaffirms “Sector Underperform” Rating for CF Industries (NYSE:CF)

CF Industries (NYSE:CF)‘s stock had its “sector underperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Scotiabank in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $88.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target indicates a potential downside of 0.07% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on CF. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $77.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho boosted their price target on CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America lowered CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on CF Industries in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $114.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CF Industries has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.43.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CF opened at $88.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98. CF Industries has a 1 year low of $69.13 and a 1 year high of $98.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.70.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.50. CF Industries had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 19.45%. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CF Industries will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CF Industries news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 3,000 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $264,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,155 shares in the company, valued at $9,077,640. The trade was a 2.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,828,636.48. This represents a 5.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,389 shares of company stock worth $2,355,425 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CF. Columbus Macro LLC acquired a new stake in CF Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000. One Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in CF Industries by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,322 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in CF Industries by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,784 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CF Industries during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 19,514 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,665,000 after acquiring an additional 2,053 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

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.