Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 3,312 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 62.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,030 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,312 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CF. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in CF Industries by 15.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,188,648 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $359,386,000 after acquiring an additional 549,569 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in CF Industries by 7,617.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 437,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $375,440,000 after acquiring an additional 431,910 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in CF Industries by 68.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 737,352 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $63,263,000 after acquiring an additional 300,873 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in CF Industries by 3.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,286,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $711,003,000 after acquiring an additional 300,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yaupon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in CF Industries in the third quarter worth about $17,437,000. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on CF shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on CF Industries from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays lowered CF Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector underperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of CF Industries in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.43.

CF Industries Stock Performance

CF Industries stock opened at $83.81 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $88.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 2.81. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.13 and a fifty-two week high of $98.25. The company has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.98.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 14.57%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 15,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,507,745. This represents a 35.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 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 value of $142,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 93,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,928,670. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,389 shares of company stock valued at $1,455,965 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.