Van ECK Associates Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its stake in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 10.6% 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 1,403,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 166,826 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.43% of Mosaic worth $50,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Denali Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mosaic by 100.5% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 826 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mosaic by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Mosaic by 526.1% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Mosaic during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Mosaic during the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of MOS stock traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $31.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,962,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,787,005. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $10.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.50. The Mosaic Company has a 12 month low of $29.25 and a 12 month high of $43.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.22.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 8.51% and a return on equity of 9.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 29.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MOS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Mosaic from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Scotiabank raised shares of Mosaic from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. TheStreet lowered Mosaic from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Mosaic from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.27.

About Mosaic

The Mosaic Company, through its subsidiaries, produces and markets concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients in North America and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Phosphates, Potash, and Mosaic Fertilizantes. It owns and operates mines, which produce concentrated phosphate crop nutrients, such as diammonium phosphate, monoammonium phosphate, and ammoniated phosphate products; and phosphate-based animal feed ingredients primarily under the Biofos and Nexfos brand names, as well as produces a double sulfate of potash magnesia product under K-Mag brand name.