CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Trading Down 5% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• CF Industries shares fell 5% on Wednesday, trading as low as $121.05 after opening around $127.86, with volume well below normal.
• Analysts remain mixed but generally cautious: CF has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.47, even though several firms recently raised their targets.
• The company posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.98 beating estimates and revenue of $1.99 billion topping forecasts, while also declaring a $0.50 quarterly dividend payable May 29.

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) shares were down 5% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $121.05 and last traded at $121.4870. Approximately 903,757 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 3,922,671 shares. The stock had previously closed at $127.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CF shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $118.47.

CF Industries Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a current ratio of 3.54. The company has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.42. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $124.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.66.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.63 by $1.35. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 23.73% and a return on equity of 20.93%. CF Industries's revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 15.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. CF Industries's payout ratio is currently 17.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CF Industries news, SVP Michael Patrick Mcgrane sold 3,666 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.50, for a total value of $427,089.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,232,256.50. The trade was a 16.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 18,041 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.06, for a total transaction of $2,454,658.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 55,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,586,977.72. This represents a 24.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 82,408 shares of company stock worth $9,971,298 in the last 90 days. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CF. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $193,657,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,312,225 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $333,501,000 after buying an additional 1,178,516 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the 2nd quarter worth about $96,560,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 203.7% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,088,286 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $141,303,000 after buying an additional 729,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 52.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,775,106 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $159,227,000 after buying an additional 610,259 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About CF Industries

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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