MMCAP International Inc. SPC Takes $696,000 Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

MMCAP International Inc. SPC purchased a new stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 9,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 10.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,013,846 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $449,742,000 after buying an additional 480,126 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 15.3% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,587,999 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $321,852,000 after buying an additional 476,769 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 1.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,351,194 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $300,602,000 after buying an additional 63,938 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 22.2% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,133,709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $281,104,000 after buying an additional 568,710 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 4.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,984,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $267,691,000 after buying an additional 114,788 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CF shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded CF Industries from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Barclays upped their target price on CF Industries from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group cut their target price on CF Industries from $140.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on CF Industries from $95.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CF Industries from $80.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CF Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.47.

CF Industries Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of CF Industries stock opened at $119.57 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $124.52 and its 200 day moving average is $100.99. The firm has a market cap of $18.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 3.15. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $75.42 and a one year high of $141.96.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $1.35. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 23.73%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.97%.

Insider Transactions at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, SVP Michael Patrick Mcgrane sold 3,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.50, for a total value of $427,089.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,232,256.50. This represents a 16.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Richard A. Hoker sold 6,184 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.33, for a total value of $676,096.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 34,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,775,711.55. The trade was a 15.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 82,408 shares of company stock worth $9,971,298 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.51% 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.