Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $23.56 and last traded at $23.82, with a volume of 392594 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MOS. Mizuho lifted their target price on Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. CIBC began coverage on Mosaic in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.40.

Mosaic Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $26.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.97. The firm has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.34.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 3.24%. Mosaic’s revenue was down 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. This is a boost from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MOS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Mosaic by 34.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,337,124 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $183,155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628,850 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Mosaic by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,218,410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,189,000 after buying an additional 986,812 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its stake in Mosaic by 84.7% during the second quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 2,083,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,205,000 after acquiring an additional 955,199 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 acquiring an additional 947,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Mosaic by 15.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,311,123 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $95,691,000 after acquiring an additional 435,598 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

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.