The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its holdings in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 420,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 25,603 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.24% of CF Industries worth $36,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in CF Industries by 8.5% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in shares of CF Industries by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 23,353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,004,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 40.4% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 6.2% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank raised their target price on CF Industries from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on CF Industries in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $77.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on CF Industries from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $83.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.42.

CF Industries Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of CF opened at $89.66 on Friday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.13 and a 1 year high of $91.06. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The firm has a market cap of $15.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.97.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 14.57%. CF Industries’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.65%.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $180,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,964,120. The trade was a 2.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,201 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.02, for a total value of $648,234.02. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 29,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,629,574.22. This trade represents a 19.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 19,201 shares of company stock valued at $1,727,694. Insiders own 0.42% 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.