Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Raises Position in The Mosaic Company $MOS

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 25.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,622,405 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 929,329 shares during the period. Mosaic accounts for about 2.1% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $111,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MOS. Dorsey Wright & Associates purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the third quarter worth approximately $4,170,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 87.5% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 376,905 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,080,000 after buying an additional 175,914 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Mosaic by 55.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,606,609 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,717,000 after purchasing an additional 574,352 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC grew its stake in Mosaic by 26.3% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 380,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,183,000 after purchasing an additional 79,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,302,000. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mosaic Stock Down 6.8%

Shares of NYSE MOS opened at $19.84 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 152.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.40. The Mosaic Company has a 12-month low of $19.80 and a 12-month high of $38.23.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The basic materials company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 0.36% and a return on equity of 4.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Freedom Capital cut Mosaic from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Mosaic from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen cut Mosaic from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on Mosaic from $33.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mosaic presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.47.

About Mosaic

Mosaic Co is one of the world’s leading producers and marketers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. The company’s primary business activities center on the extraction, processing and distribution of phosphate rock, phosphate-based fertilizers and potash products. These core nutrients are essential components in modern agriculture, supporting crop yields and soil health across a range of farming applications.

In its phosphate segment, Mosaic operates mining and production facilities that convert phosphate rock into concentrated phosphates, finished phosphate fertilizers and feed phosphates for animal nutrition.