Sentry Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 838 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 172 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $62,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CF. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 401.2% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,639,079 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $269,729,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912,942 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 37.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,063,854 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $254,920,000 after buying an additional 835,557 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of CF Industries by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,928,039 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $232,779,000 after buying an additional 414,785 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CF Industries during the 4th quarter worth $193,145,000. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in CF Industries by 6.3% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,133,854 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $177,558,000 after acquiring an additional 125,616 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of CF Industries stock opened at $79.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.19, a current ratio of 4.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $14.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.95. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.13 and a 52-week high of $87.90. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.94.

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

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CF shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on CF Industries from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on CF Industries from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of CF Industries from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of CF Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued 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 $86.91.

CF Industries Company 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.