Barclays PLC Sells 119,401 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Barclays PLC lessened its holdings in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 16.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 617,951 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 119,401 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.36% of CF Industries worth $52,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on CF shares. Barclays cut their price target on CF Industries from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of CF Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer downgraded CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on 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. Finally, Scotiabank raised CF Industries from a "sector underperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $81.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.86.

CF Industries Stock Down 1.4 %

CF traded down $1.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $74.09. The company had a trading volume of 273,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,725,683. The company has a market capitalization of $12.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.97, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.84. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $76.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.84. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.34 and a 52 week high of $98.25.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. CF Industries had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 20.52%. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.54%.

About CF Industries

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.