Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Has $252,000 Stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 29.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,023 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,255 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CF. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CF Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $193,145,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 68.8% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,546,331 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $122,933,000 after buying an additional 630,264 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $232,779,000 after purchasing an additional 414,785 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,228,297 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $177,119,000 after purchasing an additional 356,318 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 146.6% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 502,369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,073,000 after purchasing an additional 298,673 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on CF Industries in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $99.00 price objective for the company. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on CF Industries from $82.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on CF Industries from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.00.

CF Industries Stock Performance

CF opened at $74.13 on Friday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.59 and a 52-week high of $87.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.00. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.64.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 14.08% and a net margin of 19.03%. The business’s revenue was down 26.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.22%.

About CF Industries

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.