CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CF Industries (NYSE:CF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital raised shares of CF Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $86.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.62.

CF Industries Stock Up 1.8%

CF opened at $123.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a current ratio of 3.54. The company has a market cap of $18.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 0.40. CF Industries has a one year low of $75.42 and a one year high of $141.96. The business’s fifty day moving average is $114.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.84.

CF Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This is a boost from CF Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is presently 17.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 3.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,458,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $579,062,000 after buying an additional 146,682 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 476,769 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted 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 worth $276,123,000 after acquiring an additional 381,716 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in CF Industries by 0.4% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in CF Industries by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,147,611 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $243,436,000 after acquiring an additional 163,320 shares in the last quarter. 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.