Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich trimmed its stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 9.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 75,974 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,981 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings in CF Industries were worth $6,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in CF Industries by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,830,621 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $753,429,000 after purchasing an additional 543,876 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,425,518 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $377,585,000 after buying an additional 150,461 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,804,718 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $239,299,000 after buying an additional 637,784 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position 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 worth $178,053,000 after buying an additional 959,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in CF Industries by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,248,740 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $191,862,000 after buying an additional 71,512 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts have recently commented on CF shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $100.00 target price on shares of CF Industries and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CF Industries from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised CF Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.50.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on CF Industries
Insider Buying and Selling
In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.23, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
CF Industries Trading Down 0.1%
CF Industries stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $93.38. 1,550,101 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,229,588. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 0.96. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.34 and a 12 month high of $104.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $93.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.66.
CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 17.39%. CF Industries's quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.
CF Industries Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. CF Industries's payout ratio is 26.35%.
CF Industries declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to buy up to 14.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
About CF Industries
(
Free Report)
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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