Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Mosaic (NYSE:MOS)

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 14,502 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 50% compared to the average volume of 9,672 call options.

Mosaic Price Performance

Mosaic stock opened at $24.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. Mosaic has a 12-month low of $22.48 and a 12-month high of $33.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.34. 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 Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 160.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mosaic

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Tobam bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 180,900.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,809 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on MOS shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Mosaic from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mosaic presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.70.

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.