Man Group plc Has $12.11 Million Stock Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Man Group plc increased its position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 141,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,086 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.08% of CF Industries worth $12,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Korea Investment CORP grew its holdings in CF Industries by 88.5% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 150,374 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,830,000 after purchasing an additional 70,585 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its holdings in CF Industries by 2,848.4% during 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 CF Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in CF Industries by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,792,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $494,202,000 after purchasing an additional 225,109 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $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.

CF Industries Stock Performance

CF opened at $87.79 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.36. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.34 and a 52-week high of $98.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.08. 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 (NYSE:CF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 20.52%. The business’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 26.35%.

CF Industries declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to repurchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CF. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Oppenheimer cut shares of CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of CF Industries from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.21.

CF Industries 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.