CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $91.06 and last traded at $90.98, with a volume of 761241 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $89.66.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CF. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of CF Industries from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Mizuho raised their price objective on CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America downgraded shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on CF Industries from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CF Industries has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.42.

CF Industries Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $15.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $85.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.52.

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 net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 14.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.65%.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In other news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was 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 owns 22,211 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,314.58. The trade was a 23.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 66,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,964,120. This represents a 2.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,201 shares of company stock valued at $1,727,694 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of CF Industries by 401.2% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,639,079 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $269,729,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912,942 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in CF Industries by 7,617.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 437,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $375,440,000 after purchasing an additional 431,910 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 68.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 737,352 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $63,263,000 after purchasing an additional 300,873 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,286,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $711,003,000 after buying an additional 300,050 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 154.3% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 408,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,293,000 after buying an additional 248,003 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.