Scotiabank Lowers CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Price Target to $81.00

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) had its price target decreased by equities research analysts at Scotiabank from $88.00 to $81.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector underperform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 3.14% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of CF Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays downgraded CF Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on CF Industries from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.86.

CF Industries Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE CF opened at $78.54 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $87.91 and a 200-day moving average of $85.67. CF Industries has a 1-year low of $69.13 and a 1-year high of $98.25. The company has a current ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $13.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.98.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. CF Industries had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 20.52%. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that CF Industries will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 92,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,878,656. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of CF Industries 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 15,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,507,745. This represents a 35.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,389 shares of company stock valued at $1,455,965 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 143,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,274,000 after purchasing an additional 10,092 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in CF Industries by 5.2% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 2.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 150,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,861,000 after buying an additional 3,975 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 9.4% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 39,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,389,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 178.2% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 98,357 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,353,000 after acquiring an additional 63,008 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.