Franklin Resources Inc. Has $21.38 Million Stock Holdings in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 13.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 245,742 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,101 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.14% of CF Industries worth $21,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CF. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in shares of CF Industries in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in CF Industries in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 132.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 40.4% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in CF Industries in the second quarter valued at about $50,000. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CF Industries Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:CF opened at $83.82 on Friday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.13 and a 1 year high of $94.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $14.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $86.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.89.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. CF Industries had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 14.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. CF Industries’s payout ratio is 31.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on CF. UBS Group increased their target price on CF Industries from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on CF Industries from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CF Industries presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total transaction of $325,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,828,636.48. This represents a 5.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.78, for a total value of $635,460.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 22,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,016,314.58. This represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,701 shares of company stock valued at $2,052,704 in the last quarter. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.