Alliancebernstein L.P. Acquires 112,823 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 23.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 595,274 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 112,823 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.34% of CF Industries worth $50,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CF Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 50.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in CF Industries by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its holdings in CF Industries by 422.0% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $844,455.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 15,871 shares in the company, valued at $1,507,745. The trade was a 35.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $142,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 93,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,928,670. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,889 shares of company stock valued at $1,130,955. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CF Industries Stock Down 8.7 %

CF Industries stock opened at $72.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $12.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.77, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $80.94 and its 200 day moving average is $85.03. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.13 and a 12-month high of $98.25.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. CF Industries had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 20.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CF. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of CF Industries from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CF Industries from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. Bank of America raised CF Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on CF Industries from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.86.

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.