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

Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.68.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho set a $20.00 target price on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mosaic from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Mosaic from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 16th. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Mosaic from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

Mosaic Stock Performance

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

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

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is -24.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was 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 approximately $2,570,299.76. The trade was a 16.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mosaic in the 2nd quarter worth about $524,484,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,240,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $363,110,000 after purchasing an additional 832,914 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the 2nd quarter worth about $163,662,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Mosaic during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $108,329,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Mosaic by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,136,118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $105,471,000 after purchasing an additional 25,109 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Company Profile

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.