CF Industries (NYSE:CF) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.44 EPS

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.44), Briefing.com reports. CF Industries had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 18.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 26.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of CF traded down $4.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $73.51. The stock had a trading volume of 2,216,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,424,220. CF Industries has a 52 week low of $60.08 and a 52 week high of $87.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 3.81 and a quick ratio of 3.44. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $81.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.48. The firm has a market cap of $13.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.40, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.02.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is 25.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 6,000 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $510,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 64,030 shares in the company, valued at $5,442,550. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CF. Barclays upgraded CF Industries from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of CF Industries from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on CF Industries from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CF Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.47.

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.