US Bancorp DE Reduces Stock Position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

US Bancorp DE reduced its position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 44.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,821 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 11,714 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in Mosaic by 190.8% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,593,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,178,000 after buying an additional 1,045,812 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Mosaic by 44.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,218,410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $86,189,000 after buying an additional 986,812 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Mosaic by 40.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,279,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $87,817,000 after buying an additional 947,500 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 13.9% during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 2,939,404 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $78,717,000 after purchasing an additional 359,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,351,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $228,018,000 after purchasing an additional 178,844 shares in the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MOS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. CIBC initiated coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Mosaic from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $26.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mosaic presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.64.

Mosaic Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MOS opened at $25.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.19. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.23. The Mosaic Company has a one year low of $22.48 and a one year high of $33.44. The firm has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34.

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 paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. This is an increase from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 160.00%.

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.