L2 Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

L2 Asset Management LLC increased its position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 20.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 80,993 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 13,610 shares during the quarter. CF Industries comprises 1.1% of L2 Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. L2 Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $7,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in CF Industries by 2.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,982,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $734,351,000 after acquiring an additional 165,833 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,013,846 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $449,742,000 after acquiring an additional 480,126 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,587,999 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $321,852,000 after purchasing an additional 476,769 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,351,194 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $300,602,000 after purchasing an additional 63,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,133,709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $281,104,000 after purchasing an additional 568,710 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on CF. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of CF Industries from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. HSBC reduced their price objective on CF Industries from $95.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho set a $95.00 target price on CF Industries in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on CF Industries from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.87.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of CF Industries stock opened at $122.42 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $96.60 and a 200 day moving average of $87.86. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.34 and a 52 week high of $137.44. The company has a market cap of $18.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 2.93, a current ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.06. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In related news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 18,041 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.06, for a total value of $2,454,658.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,586,977.72. This represents a 24.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.01, for a total transaction of $1,190,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 87,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,384,336.56. This trade represents a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 71,409 shares of company stock worth $8,589,559 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Company Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products for agricultural and industrial customers. The company specializes in the production of ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), nitric acid and ammonium nitrate, which serve as key inputs for fertilizer blends, industrial chemicals and other downstream applications.

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, CF Industries operates production facilities and distribution terminals across North America and the United Kingdom.