WBI Investments LLC Acquires New Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

WBI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,076 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $433,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CF Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $131,350,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in CF Industries by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,804,718 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $239,299,000 after buying an additional 637,784 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in CF Industries by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,830,621 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $753,429,000 after buying an additional 543,876 shares during the last quarter. Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne Allianz Polska S.A. purchased a new position in CF Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,247,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in CF Industries by 459.4% during the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 435,352 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,583,000 after buying an additional 357,531 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF Industries stock opened at $87.60 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $77.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.39. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.34 and a 1 year high of $98.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.94. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.38. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 reacquire up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CF shares. Bank of America raised shares of CF Industries from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of CF Industries in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $86.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CF Industries currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.21.

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.

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