Blair William & Co. IL Increases Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 0.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 30,436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 183 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $2,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 7,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 3.5% in the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,624 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 12.6% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price target on shares of CF Industries and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CF Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of CF Industries from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of CF Industries from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $100.00 target price on shares of CF Industries and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.57.

CF Industries Stock Down 2.7%

CF stock opened at $80.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.53 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.34 and a 12 month high of $104.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $93.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.47.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.02. The company 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%. CF Industries’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

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 issued 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 2.5%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.11%.

CF Industries announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 reacquire up to 14.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were 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 owned 87,923 shares in the company, valued at $8,812,522.29. This trade represents a 10.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.