KeyCorp Upgrades CF Industries (NYSE:CF) to Strong Sell

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) was upgraded by equities research analysts at KeyCorp to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Freedom Broker lowered CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on CF Industries from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on CF Industries from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered CF Industries from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their target price on CF Industries from $86.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CF Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.47.

CF Industries Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:CF opened at $135.11 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $123.50 and a 200-day moving average of $119.53. The firm has a market cap of $20.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.40. CF Industries has a twelve month low of $75.42 and a twelve month high of $141.96. The company has a current ratio of 4.86, a quick ratio of 4.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by ($0.90). CF Industries had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 24.41%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.37 EPS. CF Industries’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that CF Industries will post 13.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CF. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 161.1% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 11,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 7,324 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 14,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,149,000 after acquiring an additional 4,252 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of CF Industries by 141.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Company Profile

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.