Scotiabank upgrades CF Industries to Sector Perform with short ‘played out’

As previously reported, Scotiabank analyst Ben Isaacson upgraded CF Industries (CF) to Sector Perform from Underperform with an unchanged price target of $81. Following a tactical downgrade to Sell in January, the firm argues that the stock’s recent performance over the past few months “suggests our thesis has played out” and notes that it now sees 20% upside to mid-cycle fair value. With the approval of CF’s $4B Blue Point clean ammonia project now official, “one of our negative catalysts is complete,” adds the analyst, who says that “rightly or wrongly, investors simply preferred buybacks over adding more supply.”