Barings LLC Buys 12,159 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Barings LLC grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 31.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 12,159 shares during the quarter. Barings LLC’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $4,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in CF Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its position in CF Industries by 422.0% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in CF Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America raised shares of CF Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.15.

Insider Activity

In other CF Industries news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $844,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 15,871 shares in the company, valued at $1,507,745. This trade represents a 35.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total transaction of $144,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 92,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,878,656. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,889 shares of company stock worth $1,130,955. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of CF stock opened at $77.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.45. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $69.13 and a one year high of $98.25. The company has a market capitalization of $13.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.99.

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

CF Industries Announces Dividend

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

CF Industries 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.