CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF Stock Holdings Increased by Groupe la Francaise

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise increased its holdings in CF Industries Holdings by 20.3%, acquiring a total of 32,517 shares worth $2.536 million.
• CF Industries recently reported a quarterly EPS of $2.37, which exceeded analysts' expectations, along with a 20.2% year-over-year revenue growth totaling $1.89 billion.
• The company announced a $0.50 quarterly dividend, representing an annualized yield of 2.3%, along with a $2 billion share repurchase program indicating confidence in stock valuation.

Groupe la Francaise boosted its position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 20.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,517 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 5,491 shares during the quarter. Groupe la Francaise's holdings in CF Industries were worth $2,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CF. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in CF Industries by 8,352.8% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,451,338 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $113,422,000 after buying an additional 1,434,168 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in CF Industries by 72.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,278,354 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $178,053,000 after acquiring an additional 959,901 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in CF Industries by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,804,718 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $239,299,000 after acquiring an additional 637,784 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in CF Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,179,000. Finally, Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in CF Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,156,000. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on CF shares. BNP Paribas downgraded CF Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded CF Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $82.00 price objective (up previously from $81.00) on shares of CF Industries in a report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays raised shares of CF Industries from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $82.00 price objective (down previously from $93.00) on shares of CF Industries in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $95.00.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CF opened at $86.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.95. The company has a market cap of $14.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.94. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.34 and a 12-month high of $104.45.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 20.19%.The business's revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is 26.11%.

CF Industries announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to purchase up to 14.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 87,923 shares in the company, valued at $8,812,522.29. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CF Industries 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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