CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock had previously closed at $77.80, but opened at $80.60. CF Industries shares last traded at $80.08, with a volume of 531,258 shares traded.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CF shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on CF Industries in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $99.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group cut CF Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $95.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays upgraded CF Industries from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $87.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.94.

CF Industries Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 3.81 and a quick ratio of 3.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.03.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.56 by ($0.12). CF Industries had a return on equity of 18.44% and a net margin of 23.00%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.35 earnings per share. CF Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 137.0% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 580,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,305,000 after purchasing an additional 335,624 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in CF Industries by 6.8% during the first quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 4,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. bought a new position in CF Industries during the first quarter valued at about $863,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in CF Industries during the first quarter valued at about $205,000. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its stake in CF Industries by 12.3% during the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 5,954 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CF Industries

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.