D.A. Davidson & CO. Cuts Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

D.A. Davidson & CO. lessened its position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 45.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,609 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,392 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $988,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 48,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,295,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of CF Industries during the 1st quarter valued at about $392,000. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries during the 1st quarter valued at about $239,000. Calamos Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries during the 1st quarter valued at about $225,000. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CF Industries in the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,570,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CF. Mizuho upped their target price on CF Industries from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $130.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CF Industries in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on shares of CF Industries from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.62.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF opened at $127.45 on Thursday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.51. The firm has a market cap of $19.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.40. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.42 and a 1 year high of $141.96.

CF Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This is a positive change from CF Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is presently 17.97%.

About CF Industries

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.