CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Receives "Sector Perform" Rating from Scotiabank

Key Points

• Scotiabank has raised its target price for CF Industries from $81.00 to $82.00, maintaining a "sector perform" rating, with the new target suggesting a potential downside of 0.91% from the current price.
• Recent trading saw shares of CF Industries rise by 2.3% to $82.76, with a market cap of $14.03 billion and a PE ratio of 10.80.
• CF Industries reported $2.37 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, and announced a stock repurchase program allowing for the buyback of $2 billion worth of shares.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sector perform" rating restated by equities research analysts at Scotiabank in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $82.00 target price on the basic materials company's stock, up from their previous target price of $81.00. Scotiabank's target price points to a potential downside of 0.97% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on CF. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on CF Industries from $108.00 to $101.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer lowered shares of CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of CF Industries from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price target on shares of CF Industries and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.77.

CF Industries Stock Performance

CF stock traded up $1.90 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $82.81. The company had a trading volume of 1,240,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,755,701. The company has a quick ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. CF Industries has a one year low of $67.34 and a one year high of $104.45. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $93.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 0.94.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.73 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 20.19%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that CF Industries will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 87,923 shares in the company, valued at $8,812,522.29. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,040,601 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,644,323,000 after buying an additional 319,343 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in CF Industries by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,055,283 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $473,220,000 after acquiring an additional 262,944 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in CF Industries by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,708,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $446,130,000 after purchasing an additional 240,756 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,425,518 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $377,585,000 after acquiring an additional 150,461 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,623,708 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $283,169,000 after purchasing an additional 307,092 shares during the period. 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.