CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Shares Down 3%

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)’s stock price traded down 3% on Friday . The company traded as low as $77.59 and last traded at $77.74. 1,452,925 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 2,512,661 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on CF Industries in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $98.00 in a report on Monday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on CF Industries from $94.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of CF Industries from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of CF Industries from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CF Industries has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.44.

CF Industries Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $14.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.45, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s fifty day moving average is $82.34 and its 200 day moving average is $76.08. The company has a quick ratio of 4.18, a current ratio of 4.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 25.77% and a net margin of 27.53%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 45.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 15th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 14th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in CF Industries by 72,177.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 119,173,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,273,046,000 after buying an additional 119,008,926 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,747,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,653,523,000 after acquiring an additional 94,482 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in CF Industries by 7.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,079,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $948,108,000 after acquiring an additional 934,946 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in CF Industries by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,472,445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $657,577,000 after purchasing an additional 416,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,213,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $447,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329,677 shares during the period. 90.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CF Industries

CF Industries Holdings, Inc manufactures and sells hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement, and other industrial activities worldwide. Its principal products include anhydrous ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate, and ammonium nitrate products. The company also offers diesel exhaust fluid, urea liquor, nitric acid, and aqua ammonia products; and compound fertilizer products with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.