CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.06 EPS

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.06, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 19.95% and a net margin of 20.54%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of CF opened at $99.70 on Friday. CF Industries has a 1 year low of $67.34 and a 1 year high of $105.27. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.14. The company has a market capitalization of $15.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 2.27.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. CF Industries’s payout ratio is currently 24.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of CF Industries from $91.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. HSBC decreased their target price on CF Industries from $95.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Zacks Research cut shares of CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CF Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CF Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.64.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of CF Industries by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,312,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $333,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,516 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its stake in CF Industries by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,587,999 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $321,852,000 after buying an additional 476,769 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in CF Industries by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,570,249 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $276,123,000 after buying an additional 381,716 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,287,256 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $302,428,000 after acquiring an additional 11,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,147,611 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $243,436,000 after acquiring an additional 163,320 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Company Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products for agricultural and industrial customers. The company specializes in the production of ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), nitric acid and ammonium nitrate, which serve as key inputs for fertilizer blends, industrial chemicals and other downstream applications.

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, CF Industries operates production facilities and distribution terminals across North America and the United Kingdom.