Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 84,569 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lessened its stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 19.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 350,205 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 84,569 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.19% of CF Industries worth $29,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in CF Industries by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,928,039 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $232,779,000 after purchasing an additional 414,785 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in CF Industries by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,862,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $227,576,000 after purchasing an additional 203,885 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CF Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $193,145,000. Boston Partners raised its position in CF Industries by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,228,297 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $177,119,000 after purchasing an additional 356,318 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in CF Industries by 68.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,546,331 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $122,933,000 after purchasing an additional 630,264 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CF. UBS Group decreased their price objective on CF Industries from $86.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on CF Industries from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on CF Industries from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays dropped their target price on CF Industries from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on CF Industries from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CF Industries has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.87.

CF Industries Stock Performance

CF stock traded up $1.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $75.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,668,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,715,166. The stock has a market cap of $13.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 3.55 and a current ratio of 3.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.54. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.13 and a 52-week high of $87.90.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.44). The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 14.08% and a net margin of 19.03%. CF Industries’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.18 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.22%.

CF Industries Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement, and other industrial activities in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Ammonia, Granular Urea, UAN, AN, and Other segments.