Bank of America Corp DE Makes New Investment in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 1.72 million CF Industries shares worth approximately $186.4 million, giving it a 1.14% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 93.06% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.47; targets range from $115 to $135.
• CF Industries reported quarterly earnings and revenue below analyst expectations, but revenue increased 17.6% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.60 per share, implying a 1.8% yield.

Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 1,721,346 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $186,353,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 1.14% of CF Industries at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the second quarter worth $1,410,607,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,458,907 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $579,062,000 after purchasing an additional 146,682 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,624,910 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $203,011,000 after buying an additional 431,868 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $193,657,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,055,637 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $158,983,000 after buying an additional 362,158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. HSBC dropped their price objective on CF Industries from $130.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of CF Industries from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CF Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of CF Industries from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $116.47.

CF Industries Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of CF stock opened at $133.98 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $125.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.81. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.42 and a twelve month high of $141.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 4.32 and a current ratio of 4.86. The company has a market capitalization of $20.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.40.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.63 by ($0.90). The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 24.41%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.37 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 13.7 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from CF Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.79%.

CF Industries Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a global producer of nitrogen fertilizer and other nitrogen-based products. The company manufactures ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), ammonium nitrate and nitric acid, which are used primarily in agriculture to support crop production. Its industrial products also serve customers in areas such as emissions control, plastics, resins, chemicals and other manufacturing applications.

CF Industries operates production facilities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom and supplies agricultural and industrial customers in North America and international markets.

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