National Pension Service Sells 10,029 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Key Points

• National Pension Service reduced its CF Industries stake by 14.2%, selling 10,029 shares and retaining 60,741 shares valued at approximately $6.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 93.06% of the company.
• CF Industries reported quarterly EPS of $4.73, below the $5.63 analyst consensus, while revenue rose 17.6% year over year to $2.22 billion. Shares recently opened at $133.06, near their 52-week high of $141.96.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.50 to $0.60 per share, equating to an annualized dividend of $2.40 and a 1.8% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $116.47.

National Pension Service decreased its stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 14.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,741 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 10,029 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service's holdings in CF Industries were worth $6,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 10,624.0% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 19,345,196 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,094,311,000 after acquiring an additional 19,164,804 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in CF Industries in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,410,607,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in CF Industries by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,458,907 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $579,062,000 after purchasing an additional 146,682 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in CF Industries by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,587,999 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $321,852,000 after purchasing an additional 476,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in CF Industries by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,570,249 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $276,123,000 after purchasing an additional 381,716 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CF opened at $133.06 on Friday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.42 and a fifty-two week high of $141.96. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 4.32 and a current ratio of 4.86. The firm has a market cap of $20.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.40.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.63 by ($0.90). CF Industries had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 24.41%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.37 EPS. The business's revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 13.7 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from CF Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. CF Industries's payout ratio is currently 17.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of CF Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of CF Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Freedom Broker cut shares of CF Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of CF Industries from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on CF Industries from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $116.47.

CF Industries Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a global producer of nitrogen fertilizer and other nitrogen-based products. The company manufactures ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), ammonium nitrate and nitric acid, which are used primarily in agriculture to support crop production. Its industrial products also serve customers in areas such as emissions control, plastics, resins, chemicals and other manufacturing applications.

CF Industries operates production facilities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom and supplies agricultural and industrial customers in North America and international markets.

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