CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 9.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,772 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $1,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CF. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in CF Industries by 8,352.8% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,451,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $113,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434,168 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in CF Industries by 72.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,278,354 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $178,053,000 after acquiring an additional 959,901 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in CF Industries by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,804,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $239,299,000 after acquiring an additional 637,784 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in CF Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,179,000. Finally, Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in CF Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,156,000. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CF shares. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target (up previously from $81.00) on shares of CF Industries in a report on Monday, August 11th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective (down from $93.00) on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $108.00 to $101.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Insider Transactions at CF Industries

In related news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.23, for a total transaction of $1,002,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 87,923 shares in the company, valued at $8,812,522.29. The trade was a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CF Industries Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:CF opened at $86.1960 on Tuesday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.34 and a 12 month high of $104.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.98. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $13.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 0.94.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.02. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.19% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is currently 26.11%.

CF Industries declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to repurchase up to 14.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About CF Industries

CF Industries Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement, and other industrial activities in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Ammonia, Granular Urea, UAN, AN, and Other segments.