CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Shares Up 3.5% – Here’s What Happened

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) shares traded up 3.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $88.95 and last traded at $88.75. 524,670 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 2,066,833 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.74.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on CF Industries from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of CF Industries in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $77.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of CF Industries from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.42.

CF Industries Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $15.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 2.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $84.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.84.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. CF Industries’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $180,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,964,120. This represents a 2.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,201 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.02, for a total transaction of $648,234.02. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 29,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,629,574.22. This trade represents a 19.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in CF Industries by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 737,352 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $63,263,000 after buying an additional 300,873 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 11.2% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 41,538 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,561,000 after acquiring an additional 4,196 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in CF Industries by 5.4% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 10,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $936,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the period. Yaupon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in CF Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $17,437,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in CF Industries during the third quarter worth approximately $973,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

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.