Legal & General Group Plc Has $56.71 Million Holdings in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 733,273 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 34,690 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $56,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in CF Industries by 11.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 232,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,868,000 after purchasing an additional 23,942 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in CF Industries by 878.2% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 17,941 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,609,000 after purchasing an additional 16,107 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in CF Industries by 19.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 369,321 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,128,000 after purchasing an additional 61,140 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in CF Industries by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,170,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $90,501,000 after purchasing an additional 248,020 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd acquired a new stake in CF Industries in the third quarter valued at $376,000. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on CF Industries from $140.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $72.00 price objective on CF Industries in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on CF Industries from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded CF Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CF Industries from $80.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.69.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of CF Industries stock opened at $112.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $123.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.55. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.42 and a 1-year high of $141.96. The company has a market cap of $17.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.42.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $1.35. CF Industries had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 23.73%.The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.85 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders 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 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.00, for a total transaction of $756,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,753,472. This represents a 7.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Richard A. Hoker sold 3,499 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.38, for a total transaction of $438,704.62. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 31,036 shares in the company, valued at $3,891,293.68. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 79,193 shares of company stock worth $9,659,443. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.