Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Makes New Investment in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 136,850 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,364,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Mosaic by 1.5% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 23,345 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Mosaic by 46.4% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Mosaic by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 32,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $799,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Mosaic by 110.8% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares during the period. Finally, Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV increased its holdings in Mosaic by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 9,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays downgraded Mosaic from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $27.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, CIBC initiated coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.80.

Mosaic Price Performance

MOS stock opened at $25.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.19. The Mosaic Company has a 52-week low of $23.56 and a 52-week high of $33.44. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.49.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Mosaic’s payout ratio is presently 77.88%.

Mosaic Company Profile

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.