CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Shares Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp lowered its stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 13.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,658 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 4,317 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in CF Industries were worth $2,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CF. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in CF Industries by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in CF Industries by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 310,936 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,529,000 after purchasing an additional 10,048 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,410 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,882,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 50,848 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,338,000 after acquiring an additional 4,147 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company's stock.

CF Industries Trading Up 6.5%

Shares of CF Industries stock traded up $6.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $99.93. The stock had a trading volume of 6,205,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,155,080. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.34 and a 12 month high of $100.48. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $83.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.08. The stock has a market cap of $16.94 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 2.52.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 purchase 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.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. CF Industries's payout ratio is 26.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on CF. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wolfe Research cut shares of CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of CF Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.21.

CF Industries 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.