CF Industries (CF) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.21 EPS

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.21, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. CF Industries had a negative return on equity of 0.11% and a net margin of 10.96%. CF Industries’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share.

CF Industries traded down $0.29, reaching $44.13, during midday trading on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The stock had a trading volume of 2,424,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,908,798. The firm has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a PE ratio of -176.52, a P/E/G ratio of 7.41 and a beta of 1.06. CF Industries has a 1-year low of $27.77 and a 1-year high of $46.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.65.

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The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 15th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 14th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently -480.00%.

A number of research firms have recently commented on CF. Scotiabank raised CF Industries from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on CF Industries from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised CF Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 18th. ValuEngine raised CF Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on CF Industries from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. CF Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.09.

In other CF Industries news, VP Adam L. Hall sold 15,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.53, for a total transaction of $629,836.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 39,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,603,609.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 41.1% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,780,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $180,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,605 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 700.3% during the 2nd quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 2,961,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $131,485,000 after purchasing an additional 2,591,386 shares during the last quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 53.4% during the 1st quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,491,533 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $94,005,000 after purchasing an additional 867,700 shares during the last quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,472,545 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,560,000 after purchasing an additional 162,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 137.4% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,466,777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,342,000 after purchasing an additional 849,036 shares during the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About CF Industries

CF Industries Holdings, Inc manufactures and distributes nitrogen fertilizers and other nitrogen products worldwide. The company operates through Ammonia, Granular Urea, UAN, AN, and Other segments. Its principal nitrogen fertilizer products include ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate, and ammonium nitrate.

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