CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of CF Industries (NYSE:CF) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning,Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on CF Industries from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CF Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Freedom Broker cut shares of CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of CF Industries from $133.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CF Industries from $94.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CF Industries presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.00.

CF Industries Stock Performance

NYSE:CF opened at $114.58 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.24. The stock has a market cap of $17.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 4.32, a current ratio of 4.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. CF Industries has a twelve month low of $75.42 and a twelve month high of $141.96.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by ($0.90). CF Industries had a return on equity of 24.41% and a net margin of 27.12%.The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.37 earnings per share. CF Industries’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that CF Industries will post 13.9 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This is a positive change from CF Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 17.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in CF Industries in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,410,607,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in CF Industries by 3.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 146,682 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in CF Industries by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,624,910 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,011,000 after acquiring an additional 431,868 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in CF Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $193,657,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,055,637 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $158,983,000 after buying an additional 362,158 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About CF Industries

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a global producer of nitrogen fertilizer and other nitrogen-based products. The company manufactures ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), ammonium nitrate and nitric acid, which are used primarily in agriculture to support crop production. Its industrial products also serve customers in areas such as emissions control, plastics, resins, chemicals and other manufacturing applications.

CF Industries operates production facilities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom and supplies agricultural and industrial customers in North America and international markets.