CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.40 EPS

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40, Zacks reports. CF Industries had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 14.57%.

CF Industries Stock Performance

CF Industries stock traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $83.81. The company had a trading volume of 2,632,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,405,342. CF Industries has a 12-month low of $69.13 and a 12-month high of $98.25. The company has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.98. 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’s fifty day moving average is $88.46 and its 200-day moving average is $85.51.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CF. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays downgraded shares of CF Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank restated a “sector underperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of CF Industries in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CF Industries presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.43.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $142,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 93,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,928,670. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 22,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,016,314.58. This trade represents a 23.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,389 shares of company stock worth $2,091,425 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.