CF Industries (CF) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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CF Industries (CF) ended the recent trading session at $76.36, demonstrating a +0.29% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.82%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.41%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.95%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the fertilizer maker had lost 2.86% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Basic Materials sector's loss of 4.99% and lagged the S&P 500's gain of 5.59% in that time.

The upcoming earnings release of CF Industries will be of great interest to investors. The company's earnings report is expected on February 14, 2024. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $1.56, showcasing a 64.14% downward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.49 billion, down 42.99% from the year-ago period.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for CF Industries. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. 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 0.8% higher. CF Industries presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, CF Industries currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 11.74. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.47.

It's also important to note that CF currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.96. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The Fertilizers industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.36 as of yesterday's close.

The Fertilizers industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 217, positioning it in the bottom 14% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.

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