CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF Shares Purchased by Northern Trust Corp

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has increased its stake in CF Industries by 8.2%, owning approximately 3.1 million shares valued at about $243 million.
• CF Industries has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.3%.
• Wall Street analysts maintain a consensus Hold rating on CF Industries, with a revised average target price of $95.00.

Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,108,209 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 234,309 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.83% of CF Industries worth $242,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 160.8% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,502 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 926 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in CF Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. FCG Investment Co acquired a new position in CF Industries during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,361,000. Corient IA LLC purchased a new stake in CF Industries during the first quarter worth approximately $313,000. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 1.3% in the first quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 8,727 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CF. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $82.00 target price (down previously from $93.00) on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays raised CF Industries from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on CF Industries and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wolfe Research lowered CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $100.00 target price on CF Industries and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $95.00.

CF Industries Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of CF Industries stock opened at $85.3670 on Thursday. 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 capitalization of $13.83 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 2.84. The business has a 50-day moving average of $92.58 and a 200-day moving average of $85.08.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. CF Industries's revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.11%.

CF Industries announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to reacquire up to 14.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the company'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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 87,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,812,522.29. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

CF Industries Company Profile

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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