Victory Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,362,111 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 125,710 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 2.57% of CF Industries worth $340,899,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CF. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,805 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 2.0% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,192 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CF Industries from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wolfe Research lowered CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of CF Industries from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $100.00 price objective on shares of CF Industries and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

CF Industries Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:CF traded down $0.77 during trading on Thursday, hitting $91.84. 1,160,345 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,250,965. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $92.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.10 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.

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

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.35%.

CF Industries declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to purchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership 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.