Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Invests $680,000 in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 6,279 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $680,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in CF Industries during the second quarter worth approximately $1,410,607,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $193,657,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at $198,857,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at $157,850,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 37.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,312,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $333,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,516 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF opened at $127.30 on Wednesday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.42 and a twelve month high of $141.96. The firm has a market cap of $19.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 4.86, a quick ratio of 4.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.34.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by ($0.90). The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 24.41% and a net margin of 27.12%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.37 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 13.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This is an increase from CF Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CF shares. Zacks Research cut shares of CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Freedom Capital raised CF Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated a “neutral” rating and set a $129.00 price objective on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on CF Industries from $103.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded CF Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CF Industries presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.56.

About CF Industries

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.