Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. Trims Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Key Points

• Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. has reduced its stake in CF Industries by 3.1%, owning approximately 0.47% of the company after selling over 25,000 shares.
• CF Industries reported earnings of $2.37 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates, with a 20.2% year-over-year increase in revenue.
• Several analysts have recently adjusted their ratings on CF Industries, with JPMorgan raising its price target from $75.00 to $92.00 while others have maintained or lowered their targets.

Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. decreased its stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 790,334 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 25,300 shares during the quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. owned about 0.47% of CF Industries worth $61,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 1.3% during 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 during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 19.0% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 389,865 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,468,000 after acquiring an additional 62,211 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 14.6% during the first quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 369,737 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $28,895,000 after acquiring an additional 47,104 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in CF Industries by 137.1% during the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 93,308 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $7,253,000 after purchasing an additional 53,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in CF Industries by 2.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,867,552 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $224,085,000 after purchasing an additional 66,075 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CF. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $103.00 to $101.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of CF Industries from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $108.00 to $101.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CF Industries presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $95.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at CF Industries

In other news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the 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 owned 87,923 shares of the company's stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.

CF Industries Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of CF traded up $1.3670 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $85.3670. The stock had a trading volume of 1,270,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,765,923. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.34 and a 1 year high of $104.45. The firm has a market cap 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $92.77 and its 200 day moving average is $85.08.

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

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

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

CF Industries declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is 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.