CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Free Report) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $105.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the basic materials company's stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on CF. Wolfe Research lowered shares of CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Scotiabank raised shares of CF Industries from a "sector underperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $81.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on CF Industries from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on CF Industries in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $86.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on CF Industries from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.71.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of CF Industries stock traded down $3.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $91.54. The company had a trading volume of 3,489,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,221,870. The firm has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a PE ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.97. 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 current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.51.

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

CF Industries announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 purchase up to 14.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. CF Industries's payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,923 shares in the company, valued at $8,812,522.29. This trade represents a 10.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in CF Industries by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,040,601 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,644,323,000 after buying an additional 319,343 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,830,621 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $753,429,000 after acquiring an additional 543,876 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 4.5% during the first 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 4.4% during the first 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. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,821 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $382,901,000 after purchasing an additional 299,173 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.