Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 1,873 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 22,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,873 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $1,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in CF Industries by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,567,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $477,668,000 after acquiring an additional 22,392 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in CF Industries by 15.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,188,648 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $359,386,000 after acquiring an additional 549,569 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in CF Industries by 37.5% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,063,854 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $254,920,000 after acquiring an additional 835,557 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in CF Industries by 7.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,871,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $212,823,000 after acquiring an additional 198,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in CF Industries by 2.8% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,193,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $162,584,000 after acquiring an additional 59,674 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 3,000 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $264,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,077,640. This trade represents a 2.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 2,000 shares of CF Industries 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 66,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,964,120. The trade was a 2.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,201 shares of company stock worth $1,727,694 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on CF Industries in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $77.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on CF Industries from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group raised 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 price objective on CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CF Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.42.

CF Industries Stock Performance

CF Industries stock opened at $88.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.13 and a 1-year high of $91.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $85.68 and a 200-day moving average of $79.63. The firm has a market cap of $15.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.97.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. CF Industries’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.65%.

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.