CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF Shares Acquired by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 26.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,170,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 248,020 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $90,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych lifted its position in CF Industries by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 14,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Sippican Capital Advisors raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 15,405 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, Cambiar Investors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,166,000. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of CF opened at $120.66 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $18.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.52. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.32 and a fifty-two week high of $141.96. The company has a quick ratio of 2.93, a current ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $113.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.09.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. CF Industries’s payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 10,000 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.01, for a total value of $1,190,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 87,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,384,336.56. This trade represents a 10.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 18,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.06, for a total value of $2,454,658.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,586,977.72. This represents a 24.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 82,408 shares of company stock valued at $9,971,298. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CF shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $72.00 price objective on shares of CF Industries in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on CF Industries from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Zacks Research lowered CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on CF Industries from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CF Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.20.

CF Industries 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.