Analysts Set The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) Price Target at $35.40

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.40.

MOS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, CIBC assumed coverage on Mosaic in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company.

Mosaic Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of MOS opened at $23.87 on Wednesday. Mosaic has a 1-year low of $23.60 and a 1-year high of $37.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $26.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.34.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.24). Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 3.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mosaic will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.88%.

Institutional Trading of Mosaic

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 131.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 38,894 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 22,084 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,218,410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $86,189,000 after purchasing an additional 986,812 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its position in Mosaic by 2.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,269,494 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,997,000 after buying an additional 28,816 shares during the period. Herr Investment Group LLC grew its position in Mosaic by 1,318.7% during the second quarter. Herr Investment Group LLC now owns 332,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,601,000 after buying an additional 308,792 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Mosaic during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,251,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.