Wall Street Zen Upgrades CF Industries (NYSE:CF) to “Buy”

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on CF. BNP Paribas lowered shares of CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $96.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CF Industries from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target (up from $81.00) on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.54.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF opened at $81.93 on Friday. CF Industries has a 12-month low of $67.34 and a 12-month high of $104.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $86.32 and a 200-day moving average of $88.59.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.13. CF Industries had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 20.19%.The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. CF Industries’s quarterly revenue was up 21.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that CF Industries will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 32.2% during the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in CF Industries by 3.2% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 261,251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,417,000 after purchasing an additional 8,078 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in CF Industries by 3.5% during the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,624 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in CF Industries by 31.2% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 17,208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,345,000 after purchasing an additional 4,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management raised its position in shares of CF Industries by 4.5% in the first quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 52,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,284 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CF Industries Company Profile

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.