Advisors Asset Management Inc. Trims Stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. has reduced its stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. by 14.7%, now holding 27,538 shares valued at approximately $2.15 million.
• Institutional investors hold approximately 93.06% of CF Industries' stock, with notable changes including Adage Capital Partners increasing their position by 23.2%.
• CF Industries reported Q2 earnings of $2.37 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 14.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,538 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 4,731 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in CF Industries were worth $2,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in CF Industries by 8,352.8% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,451,338 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $113,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434,168 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 72.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,278,354 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $178,053,000 after buying an additional 959,901 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in CF Industries by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,275,464 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $255,977,000 after buying an additional 470,746 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in CF Industries in the first quarter worth approximately $34,179,000. Finally, Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in CF Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,156,000. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of CF Industries from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $92.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays raised shares of CF Industries from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $100.00 price objective on CF Industries and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price objective on CF Industries and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised CF Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $95.00.

CF Industries Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of CF Industries stock traded up $2.18 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $86.84. 2,312,234 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,733,717. The company has a quick ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $14.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 0.95. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.34 and a 1 year high of $104.45. The stock's fifty day moving average is $89.70 and its 200 day moving average is $85.21.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.02. CF Industries had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 20.19%.The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. CF Industries's quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. CF Industries's payout ratio is 26.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.23, for a total transaction of $1,002,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 87,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,812,522.29. The trade was a 10.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.