The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) Receives $33.22 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $33.22.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Mosaic Stock Performance

Mosaic stock opened at $27.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.35. Mosaic has a 12 month low of $24.11 and a 12 month high of $38.30. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.49 and its 200-day moving average is $27.60.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last posted 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). 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Mosaic will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Mosaic’s payout ratio is currently 74.34%.

Institutional Trading of Mosaic

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Mosaic by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,351,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $228,018,000 after purchasing an additional 178,844 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Mosaic by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,337,124 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $183,155,000 after buying an additional 1,628,850 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mosaic by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,311,123 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $95,691,000 after acquiring an additional 435,598 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,279,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,817,000 after acquiring an additional 947,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,218,410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,189,000 after acquiring an additional 986,812 shares during the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.