Machina Capital S.A.S. Has $558,000 Stock Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Key Points

• Machina Capital S.A.S. increased its stake in CF Industries Holdings by 187.1%, holding shares valued at $558,000 as of the end of Q1.
• CF Industries reported a $1.85 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue of $1.66 billion, a 13.1% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a $2.00 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating that the board believes the stock is undervalued, alongside declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share.

Machina Capital S.A.S. lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 187.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,137 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,651 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.'s holdings in CF Industries were worth $558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,805 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,009 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,192 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 7,906 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 3.5% in the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,624 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CF. 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. Wolfe Research cut CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price objective on CF Industries and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Oppenheimer downgraded CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on CF Industries from $82.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.23, for a total transaction of $1,002,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 87,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,812,522.29. This trade represents a 10.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CF Industries Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of CF Industries stock traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $92.73. The stock had a trading volume of 293,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,727,396. The firm has a market cap of $15.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22 and a beta of 0.96. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.34 and a 12-month high of $104.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $93.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.38. CF Industries had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 17.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. CF Industries's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. CF Industries's payout ratio is 26.35%.

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

About CF Industries

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.