CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Stock Position Decreased by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. trimmed its stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 33.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,195 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,691 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in CF Industries by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 590,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,922,000 after purchasing an additional 40,721 shares in the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries during the first quarter valued at $1,251,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in CF Industries by 44.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 394,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,355,000 after buying an additional 121,272 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in CF Industries by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 458,297 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,400,000 after acquiring an additional 40,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in CF Industries during the 1st quarter worth about $610,000. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CF has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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 report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of CF Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of CF Industries from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of CF Industries from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.91.

CF Industries Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CF stock opened at $77.45 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.95. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.13 and a twelve month high of $87.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a current ratio of 4.70. The company has a market capitalization of $14.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.95.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 12.96% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 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.