Korea Investment CORP Raises Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 88.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 150,374 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 70,585 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $12,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,792,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $494,202,000 after buying an additional 225,109 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,821 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $382,901,000 after acquiring an additional 299,173 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,316,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $283,044,000 after acquiring an additional 216,395 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,460,993 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $124,652,000 after purchasing an additional 68,164 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,187,445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $101,313,000 after purchasing an additional 93,560 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded CF Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.86.

Insider Activity

In other CF Industries news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $844,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 15,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,507,745. The trade was a 35.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $142,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 93,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,928,670. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,889 shares of company stock worth $1,130,955 over the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CF Industries Stock Performance

CF Industries stock opened at $77.35 on Monday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.13 and a twelve month high of $98.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $13.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $82.49 and its 200 day moving average is $85.14.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 20.52%. On average, equities research analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.54%.

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.