B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Takes $1.68 Million Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 19,557 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,678,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 26.4% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 18,485 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,586,000 after acquiring an additional 3,857 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in CF Industries by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 17,133 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,860 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in CF Industries in the 3rd quarter worth about $410,000. AMG National Trust Bank purchased a new position in CF Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at about $887,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 10.2% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,300,485 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $111,582,000 after buying an additional 120,193 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $264,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,077,640. This represents a 2.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,201 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.02, for a total transaction of $648,234.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 29,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,629,574.22. This trade represents a 19.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,201 shares of company stock valued at $1,727,694 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

CF Industries Stock Performance

NYSE:CF traded down $0.85 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $89.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,542,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,937,570. The firm has a market cap of $15.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $85.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.33. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.13 and a 52 week high of $91.06.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 14.57%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. CF Industries's payout ratio is 31.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $88.42.

CF Industries Profile

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.