Commerce Bank Invests $1.55 Million in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Commerce Bank acquired a new stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 14,359 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,555,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Himension Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. acquired a new stake in CF Industries during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in CF Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries in the second quarter worth $29,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 36.6% in the first quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 418 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 39.6% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Freedom Capital upgraded CF Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on CF Industries from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on CF Industries from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Bank of America increased their price target on CF Industries from $103.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $86.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.56.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.34. The firm has a market capitalization 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.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.63 by ($0.90). The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 24.41% and a net margin of 27.12%.CF Industries’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.37 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from CF Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. 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.