CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.50 EPS

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.50, Briefing.com reports. CF Industries had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis.

CF Industries Stock Performance

NYSE:CF traded up $0.61 on Thursday, hitting $82.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,303,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,073,560. CF Industries has a one year low of $69.13 and a one year high of $90.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $83.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.36. The company has a current ratio of 4.70, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. CF Industries’s payout ratio is currently 35.59%.

Insider Transactions at CF Industries

In other news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $180,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,964,120. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,201 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.02, for a total value of $648,234.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 29,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,629,574.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $180,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,964,120. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on CF Industries from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on CF Industries from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.67.

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.