Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 314,596 Shares of The Mosaic Company $MOS

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its holdings in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 86.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 314,596 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $1,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 88.8% during the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Mosaic in the 2nd quarter worth $796,000. Polianta Ltd bought a new position in Mosaic in the 2nd quarter worth $1,357,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Mosaic by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 59,222 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,207,000 after acquiring an additional 12,036 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd bought a new position in Mosaic in the 2nd quarter worth $290,000. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Stock Performance

NYSE MOS opened at $35.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.52. The Mosaic Company has a 52-week low of $22.36 and a 52-week high of $38.23.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.20). Mosaic had a return on equity of 4.74% and a net margin of 8.35%.The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Mosaic’s payout ratio is 29.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MOS. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Mosaic from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mosaic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mosaic in a report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Mosaic from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Mosaic from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mosaic presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.42.

Mosaic Profile

The Mosaic Company, through its subsidiaries, produces and markets concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients in North America and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Phosphates, Potash, and Mosaic Fertilizantes. It owns and operates mines, which produce concentrated phosphate crop nutrients, such as diammonium phosphate, monoammonium phosphate, and ammoniated phosphate products; and phosphate-based animal feed ingredients primarily under the Biofos and Nexfos brand names, as well as produces a double sulfate of potash magnesia product under K-Mag brand name.