NFJ Investment Group LLC Purchases Shares of 119,901 CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 119,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,980,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CF. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 3.1% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 161.1% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 11,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 7,324 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in CF Industries by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 14,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,149,000 after acquiring an additional 4,252 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in CF Industries by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in CF Industries by 141.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CF shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated a “neutral” rating and set a $129.00 target price on shares of CF Industries in a report on Friday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on CF Industries from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CF Industries from $94.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, HSBC reduced their price target on shares of CF Industries from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.56.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of CF Industries stock opened at $125.68 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.57. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.42 and a fifty-two week high of $141.96. The firm has a market cap of $19.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.39.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 quarterly revenue 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. Sell-side analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Increases Dividend

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

About CF Industries

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.