CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Stake Boosted by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in CF Industries by 4.5%, acquiring an additional 262,944 shares, leading to a total of 6,055,283 shares valued at approximately $473.2 million.
• The company recently authorized a $2 billion share buyback program, allowing it to repurchase up to 14.7% of its outstanding stock.
• CF Industries reported earnings of $2.37 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 20.2% to $1.89 billion.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,055,283 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 262,944 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 3.57% of CF Industries worth $473,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in CF Industries by 4.4% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in CF Industries by 2.0% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in CF Industries by 12.6% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,425 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CF shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $100.00 target price on shares of CF Industries and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of CF Industries from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CF Industries from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $103.00 to $101.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $95.57.

CF Industries Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE CF traded down $2.21 on Friday, reaching $80.68. 5,730,841 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,438,639. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.34 and a fifty-two week high of $104.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.88 and a 200 day moving average of $85.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.68 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53 and a beta of 0.94.

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

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is 26.11%.

CF Industries declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to repurchase up to 14.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at CF Industries

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 87,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,812,522.29. This represents a 10.21% 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. 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.