Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Upgraded to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $27.00 price objective on Mosaic in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their price target on Mosaic from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on Mosaic from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Mosaic from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mosaic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.13.

Mosaic Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE MOS opened at $23.75 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Mosaic has a one year low of $22.36 and a one year high of $38.23. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $27.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a PE ratio of 6.15, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.94.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.87 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 10.33% and a return on equity of 6.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Mosaic will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mosaic

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Mosaic by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,661,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,340,786,000 after buying an additional 160,953 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 2.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,056,284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $476,293,000 after buying an additional 251,496 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Mosaic by 11.4% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,576,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $436,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285,883 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 3.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,186,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $318,585,000 after acquiring an additional 331,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Mosaic by 632.6% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,447,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $291,348,000 after purchasing an additional 7,294,205 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

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.