Aurora Investment Counsel Sells 3,386 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Aurora Investment Counsel reduced its position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 16.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,713 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,386 shares during the quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel's holdings in CF Industries were worth $1,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $261,000. CWM LLC grew its position in CF Industries by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 45,240 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,536,000 after buying an additional 5,636 shares during the last quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management increased its stake in CF Industries by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 52,507 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,103,000 after buying an additional 2,284 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in CF Industries by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 17,208 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,345,000 after buying an additional 4,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 3.5% in the 1st 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 during the period. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CF Industries Trading Down 0.8%

CF Industries stock traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $97.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,697,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,786,672. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.34 and a twelve month high of $104.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market cap of $16.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84 and a beta of 0.96. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $91.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.18.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.53 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 17.39%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.35%.

CF Industries announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the basic materials company to reacquire up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research cut CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. BNP Paribas upgraded CF Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays upped their price target 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. Oppenheimer lowered CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price target on shares of CF Industries and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CF Industries currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $1,002,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 87,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. 0.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.