Mosaic Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:MOS)

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 25,438 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 161% compared to the average volume of 9,734 call options.

Mosaic Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MOS opened at $27.95 on Thursday. Mosaic has a 1 year low of $22.48 and a 1 year high of $33.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

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 issued a $0.22 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Mosaic’s payout ratio is presently 160.00%.

Institutional Trading of Mosaic

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MOS. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 110.8% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Tobam purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 180,900.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MOS. CIBC started coverage on Mosaic in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer started coverage on Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Mosaic from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Mosaic from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.64.

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.