Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 1,873 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 9.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,873 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $1,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB increased its position in CF Industries by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 271,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,269,000 after buying an additional 9,815 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its position in CF Industries by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 5,471 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in CF Industries by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $862,000 after buying an additional 1,449 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in CF Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,149,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in CF Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $491,000. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CF. Mizuho boosted their price objective on CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on CF Industries from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on CF Industries in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $77.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on CF Industries from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CF Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.42.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,201 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.02, for a total transaction of $648,234.02. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 29,211 shares in the company, valued at $2,629,574.22. This represents a 19.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total value of $264,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,077,640. This represents a 2.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,201 shares of company stock worth $1,727,694. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF Industries stock opened at $88.66 on Friday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.13 and a 12 month high of $91.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.63. The company has a market cap of $15.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.97.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.50. CF Industries had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 19.45%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. CF Industries’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is 31.65%.

CF Industries Company 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.