Morgan Stanley Lowers Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Price Target to $30.00

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $30.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MOS. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler raised Mosaic from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday. Mizuho lifted their target price on Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mosaic currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.09.

Mosaic Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MOS opened at $26.75 on Monday. Mosaic has a 12 month low of $23.56 and a 12 month high of $33.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.72 and a 200-day moving average of $26.73. 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 company has a market capitalization of $8.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.34.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.17 billion. Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 3.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MOS. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 2.2% in the 3rd 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Mosaic by 34.6% in 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 buying an additional 1,628,850 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in Mosaic by 40.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 986,812 shares during the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.