Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Boosts Holdings in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 129,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. CF Industries makes up 1.4% of Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $10,318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 9.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,636 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake 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 valued at $15,751,000 after purchasing an additional 165,808 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its stake 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 valued at $4,677,000 after purchasing an additional 31,215 shares in the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $1,627,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake 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 valued at $10,608,000 after purchasing an additional 27,027 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 6,000 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $510,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,442,550. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CF shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of CF Industries from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of CF Industries from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 12th. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of CF Industries from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group lowered shares of CF Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $95.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of CF Industries in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CF Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.47.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of CF Industries stock traded down $1.86 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $78.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,855,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,432,142. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.08 and a 12-month high of $87.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.53. The company has a quick ratio of 3.44, a current ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.31, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.03.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.12). CF Industries had a return on equity of 18.44% and a net margin of 23.00%. The firm 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 business earned $4.35 EPS. CF Industries’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is currently 25.51%.

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.