CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF Shares Acquired by Raiffeisen Bank International AG

Key Points

• Raiffeisen Bank International AG boosted its CF Industries stake by 54% in the fourth quarter, buying 58,605 additional shares and bringing its holding to 167,124 shares worth about $12.9 million.
• CF Industries reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, posting EPS of $3.98 versus the $2.63 consensus and revenue of $1.99 billion, up 19.4% year over year.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mixed: analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $119, while the stock also recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, or $2.00 annualized.

Raiffeisen Bank International AG lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 54.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 167,124 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 58,605 shares during the quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG owned about 0.11% of CF Industries worth $12,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 10.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,013,846 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $449,742,000 after purchasing an additional 480,126 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 15.3% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,587,999 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $321,852,000 after purchasing an additional 476,769 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 1.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,351,194 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $300,602,000 after purchasing an additional 63,938 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 22.2% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,133,709 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $281,104,000 after purchasing an additional 568,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 4.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,984,291 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $267,691,000 after purchasing an additional 114,788 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CF. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of CF Industries from $103.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of CF Industries from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of CF Industries from $94.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of CF Industries from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of CF Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $119.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CF Industries news, VP Richard A. Hoker sold 3,499 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.38, for a total value of $438,704.62. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 31,036 shares in the company, valued at $3,891,293.68. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Erik M. Mayer sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.69, for a total transaction of $187,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 6,341 shares in the company, valued at $790,659.29. This represents a 19.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,999 shares of company stock worth $1,381,740. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

CF Industries Stock Down 2.5%

CF stock opened at $106.48 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $120.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a current ratio of 3.54. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.42 and a fifty-two week high of $141.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.57 and a beta of 0.38.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.63 by $1.35. CF Industries had a net margin of 23.73% and a return on equity of 20.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.85 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.97%.

CF Industries Profile

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.

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