Foster & Motley Inc. Invests $4.94 Million in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Foster & Motley Inc. bought a new stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 45,611 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,938,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in CF Industries by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 161.1% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 11,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $928,000 after buying an additional 7,324 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 14,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,149,000 after buying an additional 4,252 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 141.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on CF shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on CF Industries from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays raised 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. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on CF Industries from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of CF Industries from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.56.

CF Industries Price Performance

NYSE CF opened at $119.70 on Wednesday. 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 market cap of $18.12 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 0.39. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.42 and a 52 week high of $141.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.16.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its earnings results 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). CF Industries had a return on equity of 24.41% and a net margin of 27.12%.The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.37 EPS. CF Industries’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. This is a positive change from CF Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.