Howard Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,684 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 495 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $4,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in CF Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $74,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in CF Industries during the third quarter worth approximately $3,149,000. AMG National Trust Bank purchased a new position in CF Industries during the third quarter worth approximately $887,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in CF Industries by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 171,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,543,000 after buying an additional 21,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in CF Industries by 118.7% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 15,991 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,372,000 after buying an additional 8,679 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total transaction of $144,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 92,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,878,656. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the business’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 $844,455.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 15,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,507,745. The trade was a 35.90 % 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 in the last three months. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer cut their target price on CF Industries from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays cut CF Industries from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group cut their target price on CF Industries from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on CF Industries from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.29.

CF Industries Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE CF opened at $77.90 on Friday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.13 and a twelve month high of $98.25. The company has a current ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51, a PEG ratio of 0.37 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is 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.