Prudential Financial Inc. Decreases Stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 126,998 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 17,105 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $10,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $74,000. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 2,848.4% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 290,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,776,000 after purchasing an additional 280,535 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,792,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $494,202,000 after purchasing an additional 225,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 171,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,543,000 after purchasing an additional 21,632 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of CF Industries in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $86.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on CF Industries from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.86.

CF Industries Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:CF opened at $77.35 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $82.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.03. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.13 and a 1 year high of $98.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 2.52.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 15.50%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CF Industries

In other news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of CF Industries 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 15,871 shares in the company, valued at $1,507,745. The trade was a 35.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total transaction of $144,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 92,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,878,656. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,889 shares of company stock valued at $1,130,955 over the last quarter. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About CF Industries

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.