CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Short Interest Up 17.1% in January

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,400,000 shares, a growth of 17.1% from the January 15th total of 4,610,000 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,980,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total transaction of $144,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 92,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,878,656. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $844,455.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 15,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,507,745. The trade was a 35.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,389 shares of company stock worth $2,355,425. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CF Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CF. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in CF Industries during the third quarter worth $109,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries during the third quarter worth $28,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries during the third quarter worth $232,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 29.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $727,000 after buying an additional 1,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 7.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 143,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,274,000 after buying an additional 10,092 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CF Industries Price Performance

NYSE CF traded up $0.99 on Friday, hitting $82.45. 2,192,069 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,209,661. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $88.69 and a 200-day moving average of $85.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. CF Industries has a 52 week low of $69.13 and a 52 week high of $98.25. The stock has a market cap of $14.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.98.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. CF Industries’s payout ratio is presently 31.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CF has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays downgraded CF Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on CF Industries from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on CF Industries from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.43.

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.