ProShare Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,126 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $2,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in CF Industries by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in shares of CF Industries by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in CF Industries by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in CF Industries by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in CF Industries by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on CF Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of CF Industries from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $81.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CF Industries has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.21.

CF Industries Stock Performance

NYSE CF opened at $87.91 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.94. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $77.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.43. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.34 and a 1 year high of $98.25.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 15.50%. CF Industries’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to purchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.35%.

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.