The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) Stock Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Brokerages

Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-two research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.06.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Mosaic from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Freedom Capital downgraded shares of Mosaic from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Friday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Mosaic from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, HSBC lowered their price target on Mosaic from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mosaic news, SVP Walter Precourt, III sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.12, for a total transaction of $508,760.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 116,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,570,299.76. The trade was a 16.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mosaic

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Riversedge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Mosaic during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $201,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Mosaic by 38.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $465,000 after buying an additional 5,914 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mosaic by 136.3% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 15,352 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 8,854 shares during the last quarter. Plan A Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 4.0% in the third quarter. Plan A Wealth LLC now owns 16,105 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 620 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Mosaic by 10.2% during the third quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 61,736 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 5,724 shares during the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mosaic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MOS opened at $18.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50 day moving average is $23.33 and its 200-day moving average is $23.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Mosaic has a 1-year low of $18.41 and a 1-year high of $32.25.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. Mosaic had a positive return on equity of 3.77% and a negative net margin of 5.21%. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Mosaic will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Mosaic’s payout ratio is -43.56%.

About Mosaic

The Mosaic Company is a global producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. Its products are used by farmers to support plant growth, improve yields and replenish essential nutrients in agricultural soils. Mosaic also produces phosphate-based animal feed ingredients and other crop nutrition products.

Mosaic operates an integrated business that includes mining, processing, manufacturing and distribution. Its phosphate operations are primarily located in the United States, while its potash operations include mining assets in Canada and the United States.