Nomura Holdings Inc. Buys 9,154 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 150.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,154 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc.’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $1,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in CF Industries by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 15,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 3,122 shares during the period. AXA S.A. grew its holdings in CF Industries by 145.5% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 64,618 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,513,000 after acquiring an additional 38,296 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in CF Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $1,220,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in CF Industries by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 140,946 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,026,000 after acquiring an additional 3,234 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in CF Industries by 39.4% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 13,442 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 3,801 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.23, for a total transaction of $1,002,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 87,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,812,522.29. The trade was a 10.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF stock opened at $84.85 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a current ratio of 3.22. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.34 and a 52-week high of $104.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.10.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 20.19%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. Research analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to reacquire up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is 26.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on CF Industries from $108.00 to $101.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wolfe Research downgraded CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $100.00 price target on CF Industries and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price target on CF Industries and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Barclays upgraded CF Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CF Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

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.