CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Plans $0.50 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• CF Industries declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share (annualized $2.00), payable May 29 to shareholders of record May 15, implying a ~1.6% yield; the company has raised its dividend annually for three years and has a payout ratio around 32%, keeping the payout well covered by earnings.
• Solid recent financials: CF reported Q EPS of $2.59 (beating estimates) and revenue of $1.87 billion (up 22.8% YoY), with a net margin ~20.5% and analyst forecasts indicating strong full‑year earnings that support continued dividend coverage.

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, May 29th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th.

CF Industries has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. CF Industries has a payout ratio of 32.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect CF Industries to earn $9.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.5%.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of CF opened at $122.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 0.52. The company's 50-day moving average is $118.56 and its 200-day moving average is $96.11. CF Industries has a fifty-two week low of $75.42 and a fifty-two week high of $141.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 3.37 and a quick ratio of 2.93.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The company's revenue was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that CF Industries will post 12.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CF Industries

In related news, SVP Michael Patrick Mcgrane sold 3,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.50, for a total value of $427,089.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,232,256.50. This represents a 16.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.01, for a total transaction of $1,190,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 87,256 shares in the company, valued at $10,384,336.56. This trade represents a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 82,408 shares of company stock valued at $9,971,298. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CF. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CF Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $193,657,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,312,225 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $333,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,516 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CF Industries in the second quarter worth about $96,560,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 52.4% in the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,775,106 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $159,227,000 after acquiring an additional 610,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 115.1% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,019,926 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $78,881,000 after acquiring an additional 545,668 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CF Industries

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products for agricultural and industrial customers. The company specializes in the production of ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), nitric acid and ammonium nitrate, which serve as key inputs for fertilizer blends, industrial chemicals and other downstream applications.

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, CF Industries operates production facilities and distribution terminals across North America and the United Kingdom.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.