Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Takes Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 7,184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $778,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Himension Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in CF Industries in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in CF Industries during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 493 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CF. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of CF Industries from $86.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $129.00 price objective on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Friday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of CF Industries from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CF Industries from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded CF Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.56.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF opened at $129.31 on Tuesday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.42 and a twelve month high of $141.96. The firm has a market cap of $19.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.59, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 4.86, a quick ratio of 4.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.11.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by ($0.90). CF Industries had a return on equity of 24.41% and a net margin of 27.12%.The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 13.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a boost from CF Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is 17.79%.

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.