Willis Investment Counsel Cuts Stock Position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Willis Investment Counsel lowered its position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 16,765 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $3,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MOS. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Mosaic by 110.8% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 587 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Mosaic in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mosaic during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Mosaic by 180,900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Mosaic by 46.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on MOS shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Mosaic from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.80.

Mosaic Stock Performance

MOS opened at $27.89 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $26.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.69. The Mosaic Company has a 1 year low of $23.56 and a 1 year high of $33.44. The stock has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.34.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.17 billion. Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 3.24%. Mosaic’s revenue was down 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Mosaic’s payout ratio is presently 74.34%.

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.