437,356 Shares in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF Bought by Nuveen LLC

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a new stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc., purchasing 437,356 shares valued at approximately $34.18 million, representing 0.26% of the company's stock.
• CF Industries reported a 20.2% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, totaling $1.89 billion, and earnings per share of $2.37, exceeding expectations.
• The company has a $2 billion share buyback program approved by its Board of Directors, indicating a belief that its stock is undervalued.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 437,356 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $34,179,000. Nuveen LLC owned 0.26% of CF Industries at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CF shares. Barclays raised CF Industries from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered CF Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price objective on CF Industries and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wolfe Research downgraded CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded CF Industries from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.23, for a total transaction of $1,002,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 87,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,812,522.29. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.

CF Industries Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of CF stock traded up $0.9750 on Wednesday, hitting $84.9750. The stock had a trading volume of 742,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,763,303. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 2.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 0.94. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.34 and a 1 year high of $104.45. The company's 50 day moving average price is $92.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.08.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 20.19%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. Analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.11%.

CF Industries declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors 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.