Gemsstock Ltd. Takes Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Key Points

• Gemsstock Ltd. acquired 150,000 shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc., valued at approximately $11.72 million, accounting for about 4.4% of its total holdings.
• Insider transactions included EVP Susan L. Menzel selling 10,000 shares for over $1 million, resulting in a 10.21% reduction in her position.
• CF Industries announced a $2 billion stock buyback program and its quarterly dividend of $0.50, signifying management's confidence in the stock’s valuation.

Gemsstock Ltd. acquired a new position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 150,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $11,722,000. CF Industries accounts for 4.4% of Gemsstock Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Gemsstock Ltd. owned approximately 0.09% of CF Industries at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Curat Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in CF Industries during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in CF Industries by 119.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its stake in CF Industries by 114.1% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 379 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in CF Industries during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded CF Industries from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $82.00 target price (up previously from $81.00) on shares of CF Industries in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer lowered CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on CF Industries from $108.00 to $101.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays raised CF Industries from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

CF Industries Stock Performance

NYSE CF traded up $0.61 on Friday, hitting $85.88. 2,428,910 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,780,201. The company has a market capitalization of $13.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business's 50 day moving average price is $93.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.27. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.34 and a 52-week high of $104.45.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 20.19%. CF Industries's quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

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

CF Industries announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to purchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically 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.