CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF Shares Sold by Convergence Investment Partners LLC

Key Points

• Convergence Investment Partners cut its CF Industries stake by 35.5% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 15,420 shares valued at about $1.19 million.
• CF Industries reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.98 versus the $2.63 consensus and revenue of $1.99 billion, up 19.4% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, payable May 29, representing an annualized yield of about 1.6%.

Convergence Investment Partners LLC lessened its position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 35.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,420 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 8,503 shares during the period. Convergence Investment Partners LLC's holdings in CF Industries were worth $1,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in CF Industries by 11.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 232,647 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $20,868,000 after purchasing an additional 23,942 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in CF Industries by 878.2% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 17,941 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,609,000 after purchasing an additional 16,107 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in CF Industries by 19.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 369,321 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $33,128,000 after purchasing an additional 61,140 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CF Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $677,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in CF Industries by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,170,171 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $90,501,000 after purchasing an additional 248,020 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CF shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $72.00 price objective on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $132.00 to $133.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $118.47.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF opened at $125.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.15, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.42 and a 52-week high of $141.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $123.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.99. The company has a market cap of $19.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 0.42.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $1.35. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 23.73% and a return on equity of 20.93%. CF Industries's revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 15.02 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is 17.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.01, for a total value of $1,190,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 87,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,384,336.56. This represents a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Richard A. Hoker sold 6,184 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.33, for a total transaction of $676,096.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 34,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,775,711.55. This trade represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 82,408 shares of company stock valued at $9,971,298 over the last ninety days. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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