D.A. Davidson & CO. Purchases New Stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,565 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $475,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CF. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CF Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in CF Industries during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 422.0% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 569 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CF. Scotiabank lowered their price target on CF Industries from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a "sector underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Bank of America raised CF Industries from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CF Industries from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on CF Industries from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.14.

CF Industries Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE:CF traded up $1.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $80.99. 4,171,708 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,592,318. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.13 and a twelve month high of $98.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $87.27 and a 200 day moving average of $85.55. The stock has a market cap of $13.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.98.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. CF Industries had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 20.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $844,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 15,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,507,745. This represents a 35.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total value of $144,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 92,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,878,656. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,389 shares of company stock valued at $1,455,965 in the last quarter. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CF Industries Company 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.