Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Stock

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Free Report) had its price objective raised by Barclays from $91.00 to $95.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the basic materials company's stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on CF. Wells Fargo & Company set a $105.00 price target on CF Industries and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on CF Industries from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wolfe Research lowered CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on CF Industries in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $86.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price target on CF Industries and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.07.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CF traded down $2.96 during trading on Monday, reaching $95.79. The stock had a trading volume of 2,184,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,242,411. CF Industries has a one year low of $67.34 and a one year high of $104.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.59. The stock has a market cap of $16.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 0.96. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $91.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.09.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 17.39% and a net margin of 21.80%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that CF Industries will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to repurchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is 26.35%.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In other news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.23, for a total transaction of $1,002,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 87,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,812,522.29. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new position in CF Industries during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Curat Global LLC acquired a new position in CF Industries during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in CF Industries during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in CF Industries by 119.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC raised its position in CF Industries by 114.1% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 379 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.