NFJ Investment Group LLC Buys New Shares in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 119,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,980,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC owned 0.08% of CF Industries at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in CF Industries during the second quarter worth about $1,410,607,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in CF Industries by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,458,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $579,062,000 after acquiring an additional 146,682 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 476,769 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,570,249 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $276,123,000 after acquiring an additional 381,716 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,287,256 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $302,428,000 after acquiring an additional 11,792 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CF shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CF Industries in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Bank of America raised their target price on CF Industries from $103.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Freedom Capital raised CF Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of CF Industries from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CF Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.56.

CF Industries Stock Up 5.6%

Shares of CF opened at $125.68 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.32, a current ratio of 4.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $115.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $115.57. The stock has a market cap of $19.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.39. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.42 and a 12 month high of $141.96.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.63 by ($0.90). The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 24.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.37 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 13.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Increases Dividend

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

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.