CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $95.24, but opened at $91.11. CF Industries shares last traded at $88.80, with a volume of 624,901 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CF. Barclays cut shares of CF Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America downgraded CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on CF Industries in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.43.

CF Industries Trading Down 5.9 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.48. The company has a market capitalization of $15.60 billion, a PE ratio of 14.19, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 19.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. Analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.78, for a total value of $635,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,016,314.58. The trade was a 23.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total value of $325,010.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,828,636.48. The trade was a 5.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,389 shares of company stock valued at $2,355,425 over the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CF. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CF Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in CF Industries by 132.1% during the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in CF Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.