Axa S.A. Buys 38,296 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

AXA S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 145.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 64,618 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 38,296 shares during the period. AXA S.A.'s holdings in CF Industries were worth $5,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in CF Industries by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in CF Industries by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,805 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 576 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,050 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $602,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,009 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CF Industries Stock Up 1.4 %

CF Industries stock traded up $1.13 on Friday, hitting $82.45. 2,523,318 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,114,398. The company has a current ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $76.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.23. The firm has a market cap of $13.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.94. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.34 and a 1 year high of $98.25.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

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

CF Industries announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to purchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on CF. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on CF Industries from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their price target on CF Industries from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank upgraded shares of CF Industries from a "sector underperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $81.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CF Industries from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.