In the latest trading session, CF Industries (CF) closed at $42.06, marking a +1.01% move from the previous day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.91%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 2.02%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 2.26%.
Heading into today, shares of the fertilizer maker had lost 10.66% over the past month, lagging the Basic Materials sector's loss of 4.21% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.51% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from CF as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 13, 2019. In that report, analysts expect CF to post earnings of $0.60 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 3100%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.31 billion, up 18.86% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $1.62 per share and revenue of $4.58 billion, which would represent changes of +748% and +10.8%, respectively, from the prior year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for CF should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.64% higher. CF currently has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
In terms of valuation, CF is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 25.77. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 21.05.
Meanwhile, CF's PEG ratio is currently 4.29. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Fertilizers industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.71 as of yesterday's close.
The Fertilizers industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 23, which puts it in the top 9% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF
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