Ashraf Malik Sells 2,439 Shares of CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Stock

Key Points

• CF VP Ashraf Malik sold 2,439 shares on March 5 at an average price of $111 for proceeds of $270,729, leaving him with 4,299 shares (a 36.2% reduction) and disclosed in an SEC filing.
• CF Industries beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $2.59 vs. $2.53 and revenue of $1.87B vs. $1.78B, marking a 22.8% YoY revenue increase; analysts expect roughly 5.83 EPS for the fiscal year.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.50 ($2.00 annualized, ~1.8% yield) and institutional investors own about 93.06% of the shares.

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) VP Ashraf Malik sold 2,439 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $270,729.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 4,299 shares in the company, valued at $477,189. This represents a 36.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF stock traded down $4.65 during trading on Monday, hitting $111.13. 10,262,451 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,039,842. The stock has a market cap of $17.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35 and a beta of 0.68. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $67.34 and a one year high of $121.80. The company has a current ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.38.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.78 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 19.84%. CF Industries's quarterly revenue was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CF. State Street Corp raised its holdings in CF Industries by 2.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,982,072 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $734,351,000 after purchasing an additional 165,833 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 10.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,013,846 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $449,742,000 after acquiring an additional 480,126 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 37.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,312,225 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $333,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,516 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in CF Industries by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,587,999 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $321,852,000 after buying an additional 476,769 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,570,249 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $276,123,000 after buying an additional 381,716 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of CF Industries in a research report on Monday, December 29th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on CF Industries from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. HSBC lowered their price objective on CF Industries from $95.00 to $91.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CF Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, December 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $96.87.

CF Industries Company Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products for agricultural and industrial customers. The company specializes in the production of ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), nitric acid and ammonium nitrate, which serve as key inputs for fertilizer blends, industrial chemicals and other downstream applications.

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, CF Industries operates production facilities and distribution terminals across North America and the United Kingdom.

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