Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Acquires 8,078 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 261,251 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,078 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.15% of CF Industries worth $20,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CF. FMR LLC boosted its stake in CF Industries by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,830,621 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $753,429,000 after acquiring an additional 543,876 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,425,518 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $377,585,000 after buying an additional 150,461 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,316,616 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $283,044,000 after buying an additional 216,395 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,804,718 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $239,299,000 after buying an additional 637,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 72.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,278,354 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $178,053,000 after buying an additional 959,901 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research cut CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Oppenheimer cut CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on CF Industries from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their target price on CF Industries from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on CF Industries and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.00.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In other news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 87,923 shares in the company, valued at $8,812,522.29. The trade was a 10.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CF Industries Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE CF traded down $0.79 on Thursday, hitting $91.81. 2,226,452 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,256,793. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.34 and a 52-week 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 company has a market capitalization of $15.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 0.96. The company's 50-day moving average price is $92.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.39.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

CF Industries announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the basic materials company to repurchase up to 14.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.