Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Purchases Shares of 3,884 CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,884 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 232,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,868,000 after purchasing an additional 23,942 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 878.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 17,941 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,609,000 after purchasing an additional 16,107 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 369,321 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,128,000 after purchasing an additional 61,140 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at about $677,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd bought a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at about $376,000. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CF Industries Stock Up 0.6%

CF stock opened at $130.79 on Tuesday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.34 and a twelve month high of $141.96. The company has a quick ratio of 2.93, a current ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $20.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $109.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.44.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.06. CF Industries had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 20.54%.The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. CF Industries’s payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.01, for a total value of $1,190,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 87,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,384,336.56. The trade was a 10.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Richard A. Hoker sold 6,184 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.33, for a total value of $676,096.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 34,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,775,711.55. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 82,408 shares of company stock valued at $9,971,298 in the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on CF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CF Industries from $80.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research downgraded CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $72.00 price objective on CF Industries in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.93.

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.