Johnson Financial Group Inc. Invests $535,000 in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $535,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,410,607,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CF Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $193,657,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in CF Industries in the second quarter valued at approximately $198,857,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in CF Industries in the second quarter valued at approximately $157,850,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in CF Industries by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,312,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $333,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,516 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of CF Industries from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of CF Industries from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of CF Industries from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CF Industries in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $94.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.56.

CF Industries Price Performance

CF stock opened at $119.31 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $115.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.34. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.42 and a 52-week high of $141.96. The company has a market capitalization of $18.06 billion, a PE ratio of 8.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 4.32, a current ratio of 4.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by ($0.90). The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 24.41% and a net margin of 27.12%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.37 EPS. Analysts predict that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from CF Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. CF Industries’s payout ratio is currently 17.79%.

CF Industries Company Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products for agricultural and industrial customers. The company specializes in the production of ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), nitric acid and ammonium nitrate, which serve as key inputs for fertilizer blends, industrial chemicals and other downstream applications.

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, CF Industries operates production facilities and distribution terminals across North America and the United Kingdom.