Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 800 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Tobam acquired a new stake in Mosaic in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Mosaic by 1.8% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Mosaic by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 64,689 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after buying an additional 7,282 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Mosaic by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 52,487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after buying an additional 3,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Mosaic by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 15,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 1,369 shares during the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mosaic Price Performance

Shares of MOS stock opened at $27.13 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.51. 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 firm has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The Mosaic Company has a one year low of $23.56 and a one year high of $33.44.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. Mosaic’s payout ratio is presently 77.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MOS. CIBC began coverage on Mosaic in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays lowered 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer began coverage on Mosaic in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mosaic has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.80.

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.