Verity Asset Management Inc. Acquires 2,254 Shares of The Mosaic Company $MOS

Verity Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,844 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,254 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $1,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MOS. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mosaic in the 2nd quarter valued at $219,000. South Dakota Investment Council raised its stake in Mosaic by 48.7% during the second quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 104,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,804,000 after acquiring an additional 34,128 shares in the last quarter. Colrain Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 19.7% during the second quarter. Colrain Capital LLC now owns 228,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,317,000 after acquiring an additional 37,475 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,135,000. Finally, Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 33,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,214,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mosaic Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE MOS opened at $27.45 on Monday. The Mosaic Company has a 1-year low of $22.36 and a 1-year high of $38.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $32.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.59. The company has a market cap of $8.71 billion, a PE ratio of 9.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.20). Mosaic had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 4.74%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. Mosaic’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer set a $40.00 target price on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $49.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Mizuho set a $34.00 target price on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Mosaic from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.23.

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.