Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Raises Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 265.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 153,705 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 111,664 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.10% of CF Industries worth $19,957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of CF Industries by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 369,321 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,128,000 after purchasing an additional 61,140 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in CF Industries by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,170,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $90,501,000 after buying an additional 248,020 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd purchased a new position in CF Industries during the third quarter valued at $376,000. BDF Gestion bought a new stake in CF Industries in the fourth quarter worth $1,779,000. Finally, Eminence Capital LP boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 13.3% in the third quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 1,339,669 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,168,000 after acquiring an additional 157,442 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on CF Industries from $103.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of CF Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of CF Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen raised CF Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on CF Industries from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.50.

CF Industries Stock Performance

NYSE CF opened at $105.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 3.15. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.42 and a 1-year high of $141.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.24 billion, a PE ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 0.38.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $1.35. CF Industries had a net margin of 23.73% and a return on equity of 20.93%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.85 earnings per share. CF Industries’s revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 15.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is 17.97%.

About CF Industries

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products for agricultural and industrial customers. The company specializes in the production of ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), nitric acid and ammonium nitrate, which serve as key inputs for fertilizer blends, industrial chemicals and other downstream applications.

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, CF Industries operates production facilities and distribution terminals across North America and the United Kingdom.