Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. by 110.6% in the first quarter, owning 12,225 shares worth approximately $955,000.
• Analysts have differing ratings on CF Industries, with Royal Bank of Canada setting a $100.00 price objective and JPMorgan Chase upgrading their rating from underweight to neutral.
• CF Industries announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, resulting in an annualized payout of $2.00 and a dividend yield of 2.4%.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 110.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,225 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,420 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in CF Industries were worth $955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CF. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 39.4% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 13,442 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 3,801 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 30,333 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,588,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,100 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $249,000. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $235,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company's stock.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CF traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $85.78. The company had a trading volume of 1,403,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,173,311. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.34 and a twelve month high of $104.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 2.84. The stock has a market cap of $13.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 0.95. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $89.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.38.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.73 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 20.19%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CF shares. Barclays upgraded CF Industries from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $82.00 price target (up previously from $81.00) on shares of CF Industries in a report on Monday, August 11th. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $82.00 price objective (down from $93.00) on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Wolfe Research lowered CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price objective on CF Industries and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Three 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Insider Transactions at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 87,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,812,522.29. This trade represents a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.