Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Takes Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 26.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on CF shares. 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. BNP Paribas raised shares of CF Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $86.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on CF Industries from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on CF Industries from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.21.

CF Industries Stock Up 1.8%

CF stock opened at $87.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.94. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.34 and a 1-year high of $98.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.36.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.38. CF Industries had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 20.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 26.35%.

CF Industries announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to repurchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.