CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.50

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, May 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%.

CF Industries has raised its dividend by an average of 10.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. CF Industries has a payout ratio of 35.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect CF Industries to earn $5.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.8%.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF opened at $79.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.14, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $81.43 and a 200 day moving average of $79.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 3.44 and a current ratio of 3.81. CF Industries has a fifty-two week low of $60.08 and a fifty-two week high of $87.90.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.56 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 18.44%. CF Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 39.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.35 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that CF Industries will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $510,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,030 shares in the company, valued at $5,442,550. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kentucky Retirement Systems grew its position in CF Industries by 0.7% during the third quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 15,598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Eaton Vance Management grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 3.4% in the first quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 4,727 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 92.5% in the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 9.0% in the second quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 6,827 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CF. UBS Group downgraded shares of CF Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays raised shares of CF Industries from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of CF Industries in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $99.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their price target on shares of CF Industries from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CF Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.