Graham Capital Management L.P. Takes Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 2,758 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in CF Industries by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,830,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $753,429,000 after acquiring an additional 543,876 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in CF Industries by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,792,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $494,202,000 after acquiring an additional 225,109 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in CF Industries by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,821 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $382,901,000 after acquiring an additional 299,173 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in CF Industries by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,425,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $377,585,000 after acquiring an additional 150,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in CF Industries by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,316,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $283,044,000 after acquiring an additional 216,395 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of CF opened at $87.79 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $14.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s fifty day moving average is $77.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.37. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.34 and a 1 year high of $98.25.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 15.50%. CF Industries’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program 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 purchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CF. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of CF Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.21.

About CF Industries

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.