Fairholme Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 54,700 CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Fairholme Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 54,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,230,000. CF Industries accounts for 0.3% of Fairholme Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 10.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,013,846 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $449,742,000 after purchasing an additional 480,126 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,312,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $333,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,516 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 15.3% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,587,999 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $321,852,000 after purchasing an additional 476,769 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 1.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,351,194 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $300,602,000 after purchasing an additional 63,938 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,147,611 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $243,436,000 after purchasing an additional 163,320 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on CF shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CF Industries from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CF Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CF Industries has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.75.

CF Industries Price Performance

NYSE CF opened at $105.70 on Thursday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.42 and a 12 month high of $141.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 3.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.24 billion, a PE ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $119.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.43.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $1.35. CF Industries had a net margin of 23.73% and a return on equity of 20.93%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.97%.

CF Industries Company Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products for agricultural and industrial customers. The company specializes in the production of ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), nitric acid and ammonium nitrate, which serve as key inputs for fertilizer blends, industrial chemicals and other downstream applications.

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, CF Industries operates production facilities and distribution terminals across North America and the United Kingdom.