Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Cut to Sector Perform at

lowered shares of Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note released on Monday morning,BayStreet reports. The firm currently has $25.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $27.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on MOS. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Mizuho set a $25.00 price objective on Mosaic in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Mosaic from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Mosaic from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mosaic presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.06.

Mosaic Stock Down 4.6%

Shares of MOS opened at $19.98 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.34. Mosaic has a 1 year low of $19.80 and a 1 year high of $36.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a PE ratio of -9.89, a P/E/G ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.91.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. Mosaic had a negative net margin of 5.21% and a positive return on equity of 3.77%. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Mosaic will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. Mosaic’s payout ratio is -43.56%.

Insider Activity at Mosaic

In other news, SVP Walter Precourt, III sold 23,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.12, for a total value of $508,760.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 116,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,570,299.76. This trade represents a 16.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mosaic

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Mosaic by 22.2% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 366,466 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,345,000 after acquiring an additional 66,608 shares during the last quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Mosaic in the second quarter valued at $1,301,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 7.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,486,973 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $63,418,000 after purchasing an additional 170,724 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Mosaic during the second quarter worth about $73,112,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Mosaic by 18.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 401,445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,237,000 after purchasing an additional 62,883 shares in the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.