Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $1.21 Million Stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 30.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,162 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,345 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $1,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC grew its position in CF Industries by 68.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 737,352 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,263,000 after purchasing an additional 300,873 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 4.9% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 8.7% during the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 28,364 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,434,000 after acquiring an additional 2,270 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in CF Industries by 4.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 16,939 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in CF Industries in the third quarter valued at about $993,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Trading Up 1.0 %

CF stock opened at $73.17 on Wednesday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.34 and a 1-year high of $98.25. The company has a current ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $77.35 and its 200-day moving average is $84.24. The firm has a market cap of $12.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.84.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 20.52%. Equities analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CF. Scotiabank raised CF Industries from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $81.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of CF Industries from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. 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 note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of CF Industries in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $86.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.20.

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.