Baird Financial Group Inc. Purchases 3,234 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 140,946 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 3,234 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.08% of CF Industries worth $12,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CF. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 2.1% in 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 buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in CF Industries by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 576 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in CF Industries by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,050 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

CF Industries Stock Performance

CF stock opened at $80.52 on Thursday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.34 and a twelve month high of $98.25. The firm has a market cap of $13.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.94. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $76.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for 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 firm's revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. Analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. CF Industries's payout ratio is 29.54%.

CF Industries announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in 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 often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CF. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of CF Industries from $90.00 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of CF Industries from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on CF Industries from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Scotiabank raised CF Industries from a "sector underperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $81.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.29.

CF Industries 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.

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