Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 10,520 CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,520 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $903,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CF. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in CF Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 132.1% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in CF Industries by 40.4% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in CF Industries during the second quarter worth $50,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC raised its holdings in CF Industries by 250.0% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CF opened at $87.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $84.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.84. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.13 and a fifty-two week high of $90.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.97.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.50. CF Industries had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 14.57%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.65%.

Insider Transactions at CF Industries

In other news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $180,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,964,120. This represents a 2.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,201 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.02, for a total value of $648,234.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 29,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,629,574.22. This represents a 19.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CF has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on CF Industries from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of CF Industries from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. 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 report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.42.

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.