Merit Financial Group LLC Makes New $315,000 Investment in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,037 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $131,350,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of CF Industries by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,804,718 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $239,299,000 after acquiring an additional 637,784 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew 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. Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne Allianz Polska S.A. bought a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $37,247,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 459.4% during the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 435,352 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,583,000 after purchasing an additional 357,531 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of CF Industries from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on CF Industries from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of CF Industries from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.21.

CF Industries Stock Performance

NYSE CF traded up $5.79 during trading on Friday, reaching $99.62. 3,783,499 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,147,953. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.34 and a fifty-two week high of $100.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $82.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.03. 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 the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.38. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.35%.

CF Industries announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the basic materials company to reacquire up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management 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.