The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $33.80.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. CIBC started coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays cut shares of Mosaic from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Mosaic from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Mosaic Stock Performance

Shares of MOS stock opened at $26.15 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $26.14 and its 200 day moving average is $26.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.14, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. Mosaic has a 12 month low of $23.56 and a 12 month high of $33.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.34%.

Institutional Trading of Mosaic

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Mosaic by 110.8% in the fourth 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 period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Mosaic in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Tobam bought a new stake in Mosaic during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mosaic during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Mosaic by 46.4% during 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 in the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.