Vest Financial LLC Sells 41,679 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Vest Financial LLC lessened its holdings in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 10.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 372,697 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 41,679 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.22% of CF Industries worth $29,126,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in CF Industries in the first quarter valued at about $437,000. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in CF Industries in the first quarter valued at about $315,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in CF Industries in the first quarter valued at about $1,716,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its stake in CF Industries by 0.3% in the first quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 123,501 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,652,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in CF Industries in the first quarter valued at about $402,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on CF shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on CF Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. BNP Paribas raised CF Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America raised CF Industries from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on CF Industries from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on CF Industries from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.21.

CF Industries Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of CF Industries stock traded down $0.12 on Friday, hitting $92.16. The stock had a trading volume of 1,839,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,127,867. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.38 and a 200 day moving average of $83.92. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.34 and a twelve month high of $98.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.08.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.38. CF Industries had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 20.52%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. CF Industries's payout ratio is presently 26.35%.

CF Industries declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to repurchase up to 14.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.