Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 120,193 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,300,485 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 120,193 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.75% of CF Industries worth $111,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in CF Industries by 401.2% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,639,079 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $269,729,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912,942 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 37.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,063,854 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $254,920,000 after buying an additional 835,557 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in CF Industries by 7,617.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 437,580 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $375,440,000 after buying an additional 431,910 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in CF Industries by 154.3% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 408,703 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,293,000 after acquiring an additional 248,003 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the first quarter worth $19,824,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on CF Industries from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on CF Industries from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $77.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CF Industries presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $88.42.

CF Industries Price Performance

NYSE:CF traded up $1.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $87.07. The company had a trading volume of 2,334,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,721,727. The company has a market capitalization of $15.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.13 and a 52-week high of $90.86. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $84.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.85.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 19.45%. The company's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. CF Industries's payout ratio is currently 31.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $180,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 66,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,964,120. The trade was a 2.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,201 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was 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 owns 29,211 shares in the company, valued at $2,629,574.22. This represents a 19.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

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.