CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF Position Cut by Vident Advisory LLC

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC reduced its stake in CF Industries by 10.0%, owning 40,996 shares worth approximately $3.2 million after selling 4,534 shares during the first quarter.
• Notable hedge fund activity includes Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increasing its holdings by 1,497.3%, resulting in ownership of 109,240 shares valued at $8.5 million.
• CF Industries announced a $2 billion stock repurchase plan and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, reflecting confidence in the company's valuation.

Vident Advisory LLC lowered its stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 10.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,996 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 4,534 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in CF Industries were worth $3,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in CF Industries by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,040,601 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,644,323,000 after acquiring an additional 319,343 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in CF Industries by 4.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,055,283 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $473,220,000 after acquiring an additional 262,944 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in CF Industries by 4.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,708,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $446,130,000 after acquiring an additional 240,756 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in CF Industries by 9.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,623,708 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $283,169,000 after acquiring an additional 307,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in CF Industries by 16.8% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,275,464 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $255,977,000 after acquiring an additional 470,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $82.00 price objective (down previously from $93.00) on shares of CF Industries in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $103.00 to $101.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays raised shares of CF Industries from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of CF Industries from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of CF Industries from $108.00 to $101.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $95.00.

CF Industries Stock Performance

CF Industries stock traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $84.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,263,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,739,455. The firm has a market cap of $13.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $90.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.12. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.34 and a twelve month high of $104.45.

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

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. CF Industries's payout ratio is currently 26.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 87,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,812,522.29. The trade was a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.