Norges Bank Takes Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 1,539,503 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $131,350,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $722,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in CF Industries by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 6,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its position in CF Industries by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 24,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,123,000 after buying an additional 2,016 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in CF Industries by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 21,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after buying an additional 4,994 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 292,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,863,000 after buying an additional 40,124 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $844,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 15,871 shares in the company, valued at $1,507,745. This represents a 35.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $142,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 93,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,928,670. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,889 shares of company stock worth $1,130,955. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF Industries stock opened at $78.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.24 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $82.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.15. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $69.13 and a one year high of $98.25.

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

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of CF Industries from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on CF Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.86.

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.