Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 246,639 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 39,906 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.14% of CF Industries worth $21,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CF. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of CF Industries by 4.9% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in CF Industries by 0.8% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 23,353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,004,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of CF Industries by 6.2% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 1.5% during the second quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 14,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Ashraf K. Malik sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.78, for a total transaction of $635,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,211 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,314.58. This represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total value of $325,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,768 shares in the company, valued at $5,828,636.48. The trade was a 5.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 22,701 shares of company stock worth $2,052,704. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on CF. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of CF Industries from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of CF Industries from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America downgraded CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on CF Industries from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on CF Industries in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $114.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CF Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.38.

CF Industries Stock Performance

CF Industries stock opened at $85.40 on Thursday. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.13 and a 12-month high of $94.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The company has a market capitalization of $14.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $86.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.09.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last posted 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. CF Industries had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 19.45%. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. CF Industries’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.