Brokerages Set The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) Price Target at $27.17

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-two analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.1667.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MOS. Berenberg Bank cut their target price on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Mosaic from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. KeyCorp began coverage on Mosaic in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Mosaic from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th.

Mosaic Price Performance

MOS opened at $25.44 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $23.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.74. Mosaic has a 12-month low of $19.80 and a 12-month high of $36.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $8.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.60, a PEG ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 0.83.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. Mosaic had a positive return on equity of 3.77% and a negative net margin of 5.21%.Mosaic’s revenue was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mosaic will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Mosaic’s payout ratio is currently -43.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Mosaic

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Core Capital Management & Research inc. purchased a new stake in Mosaic in the second quarter valued at $2,741,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Mosaic by 56.3% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 34,042 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 12,259 shares during the last quarter. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Mosaic during the 2nd quarter worth $25,160,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its position in Mosaic by 154.6% in the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 22,793 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 13,841 shares during the period. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,885 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 2,072 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Mosaic

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) is a global producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. Its products are used by farmers to replenish essential nutrients in soil and support agricultural yields. The company also produces animal feed ingredients and other phosphorus-based products derived from its phosphate operations.

Mosaic’s operations span the production, processing, distribution and marketing of crop nutrients. Its phosphate business is supported by phosphate rock mining and processing operations, while its potash business includes mining and processing facilities in Canada and the United States.