Wall Street Zen Downgrades CF Industries (NYSE:CF) to Hold

Key Points

• CF Industries was downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment towards the stock.
• UBS Group lowered its price target on CF Industries from $103.00 to $101.00, while JPMorgan Chase raised its target significantly from $75.00 to $92.00.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $2.37 EPS, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $1.89 billion, up 20.2% year-over-year.

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

CF has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on CF Industries from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $100.00 price target on CF Industries and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wolfe Research lowered CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded CF Industries from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on CF Industries and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.77.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of CF stock traded up $1.72 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $82.63. The stock had a trading volume of 2,962,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,767,370. 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 0.38, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 2.84. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $93.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79 and a beta of 0.94.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 20.19%. The firm's revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that CF Industries will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. CF Industries's payout ratio is 26.11%.

CF Industries declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the basic materials company to reacquire up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 87,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of CF Industries by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,356 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of CF Industries by 119.8% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of CF Industries by 1,497.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 109,240 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,537,000 after purchasing an additional 102,401 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries during the 1st quarter worth about $1,716,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of CF Industries by 62.2% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 720 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.