Natixis Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in CF Industries by 4.8%, owning approximately $24 million worth of shares, following the sale of 15,447 shares in Q1.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings on CF Industries, with price targets ranging from $81.00 to $103.00, indicating a generally cautious outlook with an average target price of $95.71.
• CF Industries announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 and initiated a stock repurchase plan up to $2 billion, reflecting confidence in the company's valuation.

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 307,085 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 15,447 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.18% of CF Industries worth $23,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CF. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,009 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,192 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 7,906 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,624 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,425 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CF traded down $1.98 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $90.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,621,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,698,405. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $94.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.59. The company has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 0.94. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.34 and a 12-month high of $104.45.

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

CF Industries announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to buy up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 87,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,812,522.29. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of CF Industries from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on shares of CF Industries and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of CF Industries from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $95.71.

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.