Zacks Research Boosts Earnings Estimates for CF Industries

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research raised their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for CF Industries in a research note issued to investors on Friday, January 17th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the basic materials company will post earnings of $6.36 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $6.31. The consensus estimate for CF Industries’ current full-year earnings is $6.37 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for CF Industries’ Q4 2024 earnings at $1.48 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.32 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.90 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.81 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $5.34 EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $1.49 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CF. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America lowered shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $83.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of CF Industries in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $77.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of CF Industries from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.69.

CF Industries Price Performance

NYSE CF opened at $93.59 on Monday. CF Industries has a 1 year low of $69.13 and a 1 year high of $98.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $88.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 2.81.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.50. CF Industries had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 14.57%. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CF Industries news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.78, for a total value of $635,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,016,314.58. The trade was a 23.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total value of $144,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 92,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,878,656. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,389 shares of company stock worth $2,355,425. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CF Industries

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 8.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 280,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,800,000 after buying an additional 21,766 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 12,972 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $961,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in CF Industries by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 18,309 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,357,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,422,493 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $105,435,000 after purchasing an additional 68,834 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in CF Industries by 6.2% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

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.