Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 552 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its holdings in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,846 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 552 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in CF Industries were worth $926,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 18,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CF shares. Wolfe Research downgraded CF Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Barclays upped their price target on CF Industries from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on CF Industries from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on CF Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on CF Industries from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CF Industries presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.21.

CF Industries Stock Down 2.0%

NYSE CF opened at $94.63 on Wednesday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.34 and a 52 week high of $104.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $16.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $87.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.51.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.38. CF Industries had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 17.39%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. CF Industries’s payout ratio is 26.35%.

CF Industries announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to buy up to 14.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.23, for a total transaction of $1,002,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,812,522.29. This trade represents a 10.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.