CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.50

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 3rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, November 29th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th.

CF Industries has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% annually over the last three years. CF Industries has a dividend payout ratio of 33.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect CF Industries to earn $5.58 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.8%.

CF Industries Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of CF Industries stock traded up $0.97 on Thursday, reaching $89.12. 808,940 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,142,085. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $79.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.05. The company has a market capitalization of $16.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a current ratio of 4.70. CF Industries has a 52 week low of $69.13 and a 52 week high of $89.64.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CF shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of CF Industries from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on CF Industries from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Barclays upgraded CF Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.73.

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.