CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,090,000 shares, a growth of 8.5% from the November 30th total of 4,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total transaction of $325,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,828,636.48. The trade was a 5.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.78, for a total transaction of $635,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,211 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,314.58. The trade was a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,701 shares of company stock worth $2,052,704. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 13.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 245,742 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,380,000 after acquiring an additional 29,101 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 94.7% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 40,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,485,000 after buying an additional 19,760 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of CF Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at $993,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in CF Industries by 4.5% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 16,939 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its stake in CF Industries by 8.7% during the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 28,364 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,434,000 after buying an additional 2,270 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Trading Up 1.5 %

CF stock opened at $85.32 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. CF Industries has a twelve month low of $69.13 and a twelve month high of $94.46. The company has a market cap of $14.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $86.50 and a 200-day moving average of $81.42.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 19.45%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CF Industries will post 6.32 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CF shares. Bank of America downgraded shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $83.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on CF Industries in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $77.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.38.

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.