Insider Selling: CF Industries (NYSE:CF) VP Sells $255,750.00 in Stock

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) VP Erik Mayer sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.25, for a total value of $255,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 7,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $911,516.25. This represents a 21.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of CF opened at $120.07 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $93.59 and a 200 day moving average of $86.95. The company has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 0.68. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.34 and a 12 month high of $121.80. The company has a current ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.06. CF Industries had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 20.54%.The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. CF Industries’s payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CF Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $193,657,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 worth $333,501,000 after buying an additional 1,178,516 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CF Industries in the second quarter valued at approximately $96,560,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in CF Industries by 926.2% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,118,446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $102,897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its holdings in CF Industries by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,775,106 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $159,227,000 after acquiring an additional 610,259 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Key CF Industries News

Here are the key news stories impacting CF Industries this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Geopolitical-driven demand boost: Coverage says the Iran conflict is tightening global fertilizer markets and lifting near-term demand/pricing for major fertilizer producers, which benefits CF’s ammonia and urea businesses. The Iran war is boosting this farming stock
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Several brokers have lifted price targets recently (Barclays raised its target to $120; other shops nudged targets higher), providing a favorable research backdrop that can amplify buying on positive sector news. CF Industries stock page (MarketBeat)
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals and payout: Recent quarterly results showed revenue and EPS beats and CF pays a modest dividend (annualized $2.00, ~1.8% yield), supporting the bull case that higher fertilizer prices feed through to earnings. CF Industries stock page (MarketBeat)
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional/hedge fund activity: Reporting shows some hedge funds and institutions adjusting positions in CF; institutional ownership remains very high, which can mute volatility as positions are large and long-term. Hedge fund and insider trading news (InsiderMonkey)
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling this week: Multiple officers (EVP, several VPs and SVPs) disclosed sales adding up to roughly $4.2M in proceeds across filings; repeated executive sales are being parsed by the market as potential portfolio diversification or a cautious signal. Insider selling alerts (InsiderTrades)

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CF shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of CF Industries from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on CF Industries from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho set a $95.00 target price on CF Industries in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group upped their price target on CF Industries from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on CF Industries from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.87.

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.