172,846 CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF Shares Purchased by Pinnacle Associates Ltd.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 402.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 215,776 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 172,846 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $26,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CF. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in CF Industries by 625.6% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 389,249 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,869,000 after buying an additional 335,602 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 98.0% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 329,680 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,834,000 after acquiring an additional 163,189 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 783.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 234,065 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,352,000 after acquiring an additional 207,574 shares during the period. Cottage Street Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 67.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cottage Street Advisors LLC now owns 29,938 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,589,000 after acquiring an additional 12,104 shares during the period. Finally, Generali Investments Management Co LLC raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 496.1% in the 3rd quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 5,961 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $744,000 after acquiring an additional 4,961 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CF shares. Freedom Broker cut shares of CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CF Industries from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on CF Industries from $133.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on CF Industries from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on CF Industries from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CF Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.11.

CF Industries Stock Performance

NYSE CF opened at $117.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 4.86 and a quick ratio of 4.32. The company has a market cap of $17.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $123.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.04. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.42 and a 1-year high of $141.96.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.63 by ($0.90). The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 24.41% and a net margin of 27.12%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.37 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 13.90 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

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

About CF Industries

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.