Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 308 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in CF Industries by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,635,000 after buying an additional 1,636 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 926.1% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 183,711 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,751,000 after purchasing an additional 165,808 shares during the period. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 133.8% in the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 54,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,677,000 after purchasing an additional 31,215 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,627,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 133,439 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,608,000 after purchasing an additional 27,027 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $510,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,442,550. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut CF Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $88.00 target price (down previously from $96.00) on shares of CF Industries in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler cut CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research began coverage on CF Industries in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $99.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays upgraded CF Industries from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.47.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of CF stock opened at $78.55 on Wednesday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.08 and a twelve month high of $87.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.81, a quick ratio of 3.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.56 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 18.44% and a net margin of 23.00%. CF Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 39.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.35 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.51%.

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.