Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Upgraded at Freedom Broker

Freedom Broker upgraded shares of Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. Freedom Broker currently has $17.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Freedom Capital downgraded Mosaic from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered their price target on Mosaic from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. lowered Mosaic from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $25.00 in a report on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Mosaic in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Mosaic from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mosaic presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.68.

Mosaic Trading Up 17.4%

NYSE:MOS opened at $21.62 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.11, a PEG ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.34. The business has a fifty day moving average of $21.79 and a 200-day moving average of $23.82. Mosaic has a 1 year low of $16.99 and a 1 year high of $32.25.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The basic materials company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Mosaic had a positive return on equity of 0.57% and a negative net margin of 9.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Mosaic will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is currently -24.86%.

Insider Activity at Mosaic

In other Mosaic news, SVP Walter Precourt, III sold 23,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.12, for a total value of $508,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 116,198 shares in the company, valued at $2,570,299.76. This trade represents a 16.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mosaic

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 22.2% during 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 period. Tejara Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,301,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,486,973 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,418,000 after purchasing an additional 170,724 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the 2nd quarter worth about $73,112,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 18.6% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

About Mosaic

The Mosaic Company is a global producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. Its products help farmers supply crops with essential nutrients, including phosphorus and potassium, and are sold under brands such as MicroEssentials, Aspire and K-Mag.

Mosaic operates an integrated fertilizer business that includes phosphate rock mining, processing and manufacturing, as well as potash mining and production. The company also produces animal feed ingredients and other products derived from phosphate operations.