Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 8,351 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 405,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,351 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Mosaic worth $10,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MOS. Highlander Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 515.4% in the 1st quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new stake in Mosaic in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Mosaic in the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MOS opened at $26.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.19. The Mosaic Company has a 52-week low of $24.11 and a 52-week high of $38.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $26.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.89. The stock has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.35.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.24). Mosaic had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 6.00%. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MOS shares. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.22.

Mosaic 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.