CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Stake Boosted by Whittier Trust Co.

Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 167.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $57,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of CF Industries by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in CF Industries by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in CF Industries by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in CF Industries by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in CF Industries by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CF. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on CF Industries in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $86.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of CF Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on CF Industries from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on CF Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.86.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $844,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 15,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,507,745. This trade represents a 35.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $142,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 93,986 shares in the company, valued at $8,928,670. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,889 shares of company stock worth $1,130,955. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CF Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CF opened at $76.89 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.99. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.13 and a 52-week high of $98.25.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.