Aurora Investment Counsel Makes New Investment in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 13,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,049,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lakewood Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 12,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $957,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in CF Industries by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its position in CF Industries by 4.9% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,898 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. lifted its stake in CF Industries by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 2,720 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in CF Industries by 1.7% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 8,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded CF Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded CF Industries from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Mizuho lifted their target price on CF Industries from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CF Industries from $94.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CF Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.00.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.00, for a total value of $756,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 69,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,753,472. This represents a 7.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Erik M. Mayer sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.69, for a total transaction of $187,035.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 6,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $790,659.29. The trade was a 19.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 10,999 shares of company stock worth $1,381,740 in the last quarter. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CF Industries Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE CF opened at $109.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.38. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.42 and a twelve month high of $141.96. The company has a quick ratio of 3.15, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $120.54 and its 200 day moving average is $103.65.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $1.35. CF Industries had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 23.73%.The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.85 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.97%.

CF Industries Company Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products for agricultural and industrial customers. The company specializes in the production of ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), nitric acid and ammonium nitrate, which serve as key inputs for fertilizer blends, industrial chemicals and other downstream applications.

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, CF Industries operates production facilities and distribution terminals across North America and the United Kingdom.