Scotiabank Upgrades CF Industries (NYSE:CF) to Sector Perform

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) was upgraded by Scotiabank from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $81.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 15.73% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Bank of America upgraded CF Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on CF Industries in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $86.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.86.

CF Industries Stock Down 0.7 %

CF opened at $69.99 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $78.36 and a 200-day moving average of $84.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. CF Industries has a 1-year low of $67.34 and a 1-year high of $98.25.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CF Industries will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $142,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 93,986 shares in the company, valued at $8,928,670. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,889 shares of company stock worth $1,130,955 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CF Industries

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CF Industries in the 4th quarter worth $131,350,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,804,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $239,299,000 after buying an additional 637,784 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,830,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $753,429,000 after buying an additional 543,876 shares in the last quarter. Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne Allianz Polska S.A. acquired a new stake in CF Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,247,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its stake in CF Industries by 459.4% in the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 435,352 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,583,000 after acquiring an additional 357,531 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

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.