New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,803 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,500 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in CF Industries were worth $5,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CF. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $131,350,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in CF Industries by 72.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,278,354 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $178,053,000 after acquiring an additional 959,901 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,804,718 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $239,299,000 after buying an additional 637,784 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,830,621 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $753,429,000 after buying an additional 543,876 shares during the period. Finally, Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne Allianz Polska S.A. purchased a new position in CF Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $37,247,000. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.23, for a total transaction of $1,002,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 87,923 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on CF. Barclays boosted their target price on CF Industries from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Scotiabank raised CF Industries from a "sector underperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $81.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group upped 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. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on CF Industries and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded CF Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.00.

CF Industries Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of CF traded up $1.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $93.19. 937,180 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,262,649. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.34 and a 52 week high of $104.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $15.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 0.96.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 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 company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. CF Industries's revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities 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 repurchase 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 generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 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.