CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF Position Lifted by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 736.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 266,488 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 234,618 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $33,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CF. Himension Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. purchased a new position in CF Industries in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in CF Industries during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new position in CF Industries during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $133.00 price target on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Friday. set a $115.00 price objective on shares of CF Industries and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CF Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $125.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Freedom Broker lowered CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CF Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.89.

CF Industries Trading Up 1.8%

CF Industries stock traded up $2.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $120.65. 2,034,704 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,460,938. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.87. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.42 and a 12-month high of $141.96. The firm has a market cap of $18.26 billion, a PE ratio of 8.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 4.86, a quick ratio of 4.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.63 by ($0.90). The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 24.41%. The business’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.37 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 13.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.79%.

CF Industries Company Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products. The company produces ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate, ammonium nitrate and nitric acid, which are used primarily in agricultural fertilizers and a range of industrial applications. CF Industries also supplies products such as diesel exhaust fluid and other nitrogen-based solutions.

The company serves agricultural and industrial customers in North America and internationally. Its manufacturing and distribution operations include facilities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, supported by an extensive logistics and distribution network.