Ninety One UK Ltd Invests $11.27 Million in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new stake in 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 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 144,196 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $11,269,000. Ninety One UK Ltd owned about 0.09% of CF Industries as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in CF Industries by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,805 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in CF Industries by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,009 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,192 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 7,906 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 50.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 478 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CF. Oppenheimer downgraded CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wolfe Research downgraded CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Scotiabank upgraded CF Industries from a "sector underperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $81.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on CF Industries and gave the stock 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.07.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the business'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 directly owned 87,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,812,522.29. The trade was a 10.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

CF Industries Stock Performance

CF stock traded up $2.44 on Friday, hitting $98.20. The company had a trading volume of 2,912,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,250,379. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $91.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.18. The stock has a market cap of $16.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 0.96. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.34 and a 12-month high of $104.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.53 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 17.39%. CF Industries's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 2.04%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.35%.

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

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.