Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 2,936 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC trimmed its position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 10.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,604 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,936 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in CF Industries were worth $1,923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CF. Curat Global LLC bought a new position in CF Industries in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in CF Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in CF Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in CF Industries by 50.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 478 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in CF Industries by 118.5% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 542 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of CF Industries from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of CF Industries from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.21.

CF Industries Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:CF traded down $1.90 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $94.63. 4,169,628 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,216,800. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 0.97. The business's 50 day moving average is $87.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $67.34 and a one year high of $104.45.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 17.39%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to repurchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.35%.

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.