Eminence Capital LP Sells 23,473 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Key Points

• Eminence Capital LP reduced its stake in CF Industries by 1.0%, now holding 2,281,620 shares valued at approximately $178.31 million.
• CF Industries announced a share buyback program allowing repurchases of up to $2 billion, indicating the board's belief that the shares are undervalued.
• The company reported earnings of $2.37 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and signifying a 20.2% year-over-year revenue increase.

Eminence Capital LP trimmed its stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,281,620 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 23,473 shares during the quarter. CF Industries makes up 3.0% of Eminence Capital LP's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Eminence Capital LP owned approximately 1.35% of CF Industries worth $178,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its stake in 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 valued at $682,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in CF Industries by 2.0% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,192 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC raised its stake in CF Industries by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 7,906 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in CF Industries by 3.5% during the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,624 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in CF Industries by 12.6% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,425 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

CF Industries Price Performance

NYSE CF traded up $0.03 on Monday, reaching $84.51. 1,839,362 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,738,780. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $90.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.17. The company has a quick ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $13.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 0.95. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.02. CF Industries had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 20.19%.The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised CF Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group lowered their target price on CF Industries from $103.00 to $101.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research lowered CF Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Barclays raised 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 reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $82.00 price objective (down 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, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CF Industries currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $95.00.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.

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.