CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Plans $0.50 Quarterly Dividend

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, May 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%.

CF Industries has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 1 years. CF Industries has a payout ratio of 34.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect CF Industries to earn $5.91 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.8%.

CF Industries Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE CF traded up $1.79 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $79.59. 4,155,914 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,534,546. The company has a quick ratio of 3.44, a current ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $81.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.77. CF Industries has a one year low of $60.08 and a one year high of $87.90. The company has a market cap of $14.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.03.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.12). CF Industries had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 18.44%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.35 earnings per share. CF Industries's revenue for the quarter was down 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that CF Industries will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $510,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 64,030 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,442,550. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CF Industries

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $216,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Wahed Invest LLC grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 9.0% in the second quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 1,821.1% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $121,000. 93.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on CF. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on shares of CF Industries from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut shares of CF Industries from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $95.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays raised shares of CF Industries from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Piper Sandler cut shares of CF Industries from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $87.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of CF Industries from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $87.94.

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.