Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 136,592 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 55.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 382,334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 136,592 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $32,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in CF Industries by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 595,274 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $50,789,000 after purchasing an additional 112,823 shares in the last quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in CF Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in CF Industries by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 274,681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,436,000 after acquiring an additional 65,987 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 322,633 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,527,000 after purchasing an additional 18,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in CF Industries by 228.3% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 77,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,493,000 after purchasing an additional 53,729 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CF. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on CF Industries in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $86.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $82.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on CF Industries from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America raised shares of CF Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of CF Industries from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CF Industries has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of CF Industries 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total value of $144,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 92,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,878,656. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,889 shares of company stock valued at $1,130,955 in the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CF Industries Stock Down 8.7 %

CF stock opened at $72.91 on Friday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.13 and a twelve month high of $98.25. The firm has a market cap of $12.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50 day moving average of $80.94 and a 200 day moving average of $85.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.54%.

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.