CF Industries (CF) closed at $41.03 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.28% move from the prior day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 2.33%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 2.24%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 3.05%.
Heading into today, shares of the fertilizer maker had lost 22.56% over the past month, lagging the Basic Materials sector's loss of 6.16% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.93% 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. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.60, up 3100% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.31 billion, up 18.86% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $1.62 per share and revenue of $4.58 billion. These totals would mark changes of +748% and +10.8%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for CF. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 1.64% higher. CF is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Investors should also note CF's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 25.72. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 22.3, so we one might conclude that CF is trading at a premium comparatively.
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. Fertilizers stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.87 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Fertilizers industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 19, putting it in the top 7% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. 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): Free Stock Analysis Report
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