abrdn plc Acquires 34,011 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

abrdn plc lifted its holdings in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 67.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 84,714 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,011 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $6,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CF. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,213,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $447,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329,677 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in CF Industries by 4.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,644,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $312,445,000 after purchasing an additional 151,148 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in CF Industries by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,078,652 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $244,753,000 after buying an additional 204,536 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in CF Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $160,475,000. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of CF Industries by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,714,890 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $147,035,000 after buying an additional 118,308 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 $5,442,550. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price target (down previously from $96.00) on shares of CF Industries in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on CF Industries from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. 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 research report on Friday, January 12th. Piper Sandler cut CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $87.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CF Industries presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.47.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CF opened at $80.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.02 billion, a PE ratio of 10.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.03. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.08 and a 52 week high of $87.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $81.55 and its 200-day moving average is $79.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 3.44 and a current ratio of 3.81.

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

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.51%.

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.