CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Short Interest Up 17.1% in January

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,400,000 shares, an increase of 17.1% from the January 15th total of 4,610,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,980,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on CF. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector underperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of CF Industries in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays downgraded CF Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.43.

CF Industries Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CF traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $82.45. 2,192,069 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,209,661. CF Industries has a 12 month low of $69.13 and a 12 month high of $98.25. The company has a market cap of $14.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $88.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.39.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is 31.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total transaction of $144,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 92,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,878,656. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.78, for a total value of $635,460.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 22,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,016,314.58. This represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,389 shares of company stock valued at $2,355,425 in the last quarter. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in CF Industries by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in CF Industries by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.