RBC Upgrades Nitrogen-Maker CF Industries Holdings, Inc.

CF Industries Holdings, Inc.'s CF steady demand for its nitrogen fertilizer along with low and stable prices for natural gas needed for its manufacture prompted an analyst to upgrade the company's shares Tuesday.

The Deerfield, Illinois, company also benefits from prices supported by higher-cost producers in China, according to RBC's Andrew D. Wong, who upgraded the company's shares to Outperform, from Sector Perform, boosting his price target 11 percent to $290.

CF expects to boost production capacity by 30 percent with projects in Donaldson, Louisiana, and Port Neal, Iowa, expected to come online in 2016.

Wong thinks when those projects are complete, CF can borrow an additional $1.08 billion that it can give to shareholders in the form of stock buybacks. Its current $1 billion repurchase launched last month is expected to be completed in 2015.

Longer term, Wong figures there will be more than 90 acres in the U.S. in corn production for the foreseeable future.

A growing world population, higher protein diets and use of crops as a source of renewable fuels all are driving demand for more grain.

CF is down about one percent at $250.83.