Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Invests $722,000 in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 8,463 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CF. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in CF Industries by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 24,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,016 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 4,994 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 15.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 40,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Korea Investment CORP grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 88.5% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 150,374 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,830,000 after purchasing an additional 70,585 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of CF Industries from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America raised CF Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.86.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In related news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $844,455.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 15,871 shares in the company, valued at $1,507,745. This trade represents a 35.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $142,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 93,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,928,670. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,889 shares of company stock valued at $1,130,955 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of CF opened at $77.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.99. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.13 and a 52-week high of $98.25. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $82.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.08.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 15.50%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.54%.

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.