CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Stake Boosted by Symmetry Partners LLC

Symmetry Partners LLC increased its holdings in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 16.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,921 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 421 shares during the quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CF. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CF Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $193,145,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 37.5% during 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 period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 68.8% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,546,331 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $122,933,000 after acquiring an additional 630,264 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in CF Industries by 16.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 414,785 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 137.0% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 580,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,305,000 after buying an additional 335,624 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on CF Industries from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of CF Industries from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on CF Industries from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.91.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of CF Industries stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $79.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,554,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,275,662. The stock has a market cap of $14.58 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.95. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.13 and a 1-year high of $87.90. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 3.55.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 19.03% and a return on equity of 14.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. CF Industries’s payout ratio is presently 33.22%.

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.