ING Groep NV Acquires 71,032 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 288.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 71,032 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in CF Industries were worth $8,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new position in CF Industries in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 132.1% during the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in CF Industries by 40.4% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in CF Industries in the second quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings in CF Industries by 250.0% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CF Industries

In other CF Industries news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,201 shares of CF Industries stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.02, for a total value of $648,234.02. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 29,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,629,574.22. The trade was a 19.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $180,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,964,120. This trade represents a 2.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped 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. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on CF Industries in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $77.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America downgraded shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on CF Industries from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.42.

CF Industries Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of CF Industries stock opened at $87.08 on Friday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.13 and a 1-year high of $90.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.52.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.50. CF Industries had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 19.45%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. CF Industries’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is presently 31.65%.

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.