Ameriprise Financial Inc. Has $239.30 Million Stock Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 29.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,804,718 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 637,784 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 1.61% of CF Industries worth $239,299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in CF Industries in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 50.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 478 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in CF Industries by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 576 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

CF Industries Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:CF traded up $1.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $82.45. The company had a trading volume of 2,523,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,117,734. The firm has a market cap of $13.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.94. The business's fifty day moving average is $76.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.08. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.34 and a fifty-two week high of $98.25.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.53 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

CF Industries declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to repurchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CF. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on CF Industries in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $86.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CF Industries from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer cut shares of CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on CF Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on CF Industries from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.50.

CF Industries Company Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement, and other industrial activities in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Ammonia, Granular Urea, UAN, AN, and Other segments.