CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Short Interest Up 19.0% in March

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,960,000 shares, a growth of 19.0% from the February 28th total of 6,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,610,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 4.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CF shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on CF Industries in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $86.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CF Industries from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of CF Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total transaction of $144,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 92,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,878,656. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $844,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 15,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,507,745. This trade represents a 35.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,889 shares of company stock worth $1,130,955 in the last ninety days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of CF Industries by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of CF Industries by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of CF Industries stock traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $79.74. 1,885,134 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,074,908. The company has a market cap of $13.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.99. CF Industries has a 52 week low of $69.13 and a 52 week high of $98.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.08.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 20.52%. Equities analysts expect that CF Industries will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is currently 29.54%.

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.