CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.40 EPS

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 Price Performance

Shares of CF stock opened at $83.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $14.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. CF Industries has a 12 month low of $69.13 and a 12 month high of $98.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $88.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.50.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.65%.

Insider Transactions at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total value of $325,010.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,828,636.48. This represents a 5.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $844,455.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 15,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,507,745. The trade was a 35.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,389 shares of company stock worth $1,455,965 in the last quarter. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CF shares. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on CF Industries from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.43.

About CF Industries

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.