CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Mizuho Analyst Says

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Mizuho from $100.00 to $105.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underperform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Mizuho’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 17.97% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on CF. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered CF Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised CF Industries from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of CF Industries from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.93.

CF Industries Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE CF opened at $128.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a current ratio of 3.37. CF Industries has a 52 week low of $67.34 and a 52 week high of $141.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $107.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22 and a beta of 0.52.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that CF Industries will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Richard A. Hoker sold 6,184 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.33, for a total transaction of $676,096.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 34,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,775,711.55. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 18,041 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,586,977.72. This represents a 24.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 82,408 shares of company stock worth $9,971,298 over the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CF. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 232,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,868,000 after buying an additional 23,942 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in CF Industries by 878.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 17,941 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,609,000 after buying an additional 16,107 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 369,321 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,128,000 after purchasing an additional 61,140 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CF Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at $677,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd bought a new position in CF Industries during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $376,000. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Company Profile

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.