Norges Bank Takes $131.35 Million Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,539,503 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $131,350,000. Norges Bank owned 0.88% of CF Industries at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CF. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CF Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 50.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 478 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in CF Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in CF Industries by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 576 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 422.0% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 569 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CF shares. Barclays reduced their price target on CF Industries from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on CF Industries from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a "sector underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Bank of America upgraded CF Industries from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CF Industries has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.86.

Remove Ads

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $844,455.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 15,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,507,745. This trade represents a 35.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $142,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 93,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,928,670. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,889 shares of company stock valued at $1,130,955. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

CF Industries Trading Down 9.6 %

Shares of NYSE CF traded down $7.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $72.21. 2,184,201 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,666,070. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $81.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.08. The firm has a market cap of $12.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.99. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.13 and a 12-month high of $98.25.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. As a group, analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. CF Industries's payout ratio is 29.54%.

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.