CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF Stock: Howard Capital Management LLC Raises Stake

Howard Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 79.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 110,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,058 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $13,280,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in CF Industries in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,410,607,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of CF Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at $198,857,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of CF Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at $186,353,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries in the 2nd quarter worth $157,850,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 407.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,352,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $170,136,000 after buying an additional 1,085,612 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF stock traded up $1.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $120.90. 1,725,239 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,765,452. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.31. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.42 and a 52 week high of $141.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 4.32 and a current ratio of 4.86.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by ($0.90). CF Industries had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 24.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.37 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 13.90 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on CF. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on CF Industries from $133.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. set a $115.00 target price on CF Industries and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised CF Industries from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $98.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Freedom Broker downgraded CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.11.

About CF Industries

CF Industries Holdings, Inc (NYSE: CF) is a major global producer of nitrogen fertilizer and other nitrogen-based products. The company manufactures ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), ammonium nitrate and specialty nitrogen products used in agriculture, industrial applications and emissions-control systems.

CF Industries operates a network of production facilities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, serving agricultural and industrial customers in North America and international markets.