Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Boosts Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. by 38.9%, now owning 12,392 shares valued at approximately $968,000.
• CF Industries reported a 20.2% revenue increase year-over-year, with earnings per share of $2.37, surpassing analyst estimates of $2.35 for the last quarter.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, representing an annual yield of 2.3%, with a dividend payout ratio of 26.11%.

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 38.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,392 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 3,471 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in CF Industries were worth $968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,040,601 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,644,323,000 after acquiring an additional 319,343 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in CF Industries by 4.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,055,283 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $473,220,000 after purchasing an additional 262,944 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in CF Industries by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,708,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $446,130,000 after purchasing an additional 240,756 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in CF Industries by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,623,708 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $283,169,000 after purchasing an additional 307,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 period. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CF has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $82.00 price target (up previously from $81.00) on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of CF Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $82.00 price target (down previously from $93.00) on shares of CF Industries in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $108.00 to $101.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of CF Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CF Industries presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $95.00.

CF Industries Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of CF stock opened at $86.84 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $89.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.22. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.34 and a 1-year high of $104.45. The company has a market cap of $14.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 2.84.

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 company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.23, for a total value of $1,002,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 87,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,812,522.29. This trade represents a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

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.

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