Legal & General Group Plc Buys Shares of 760,316 The Mosaic Company $MOS

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 760,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,113,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Mosaic during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,011,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in Mosaic by 257.6% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 946,286 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,052,000 after purchasing an additional 681,700 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in Mosaic during the second quarter worth about $4,128,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $245,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in shares of Mosaic in the second quarter valued at $469,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.12, for a total value of $508,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 116,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,570,299.76. The trade was a 16.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MOS. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Mosaic from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Mizuho set a $25.00 target price on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.17.

Mosaic Stock Performance

MOS stock opened at $23.64 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.08. The Mosaic Company has a 52 week low of $19.80 and a 52 week high of $36.99. The stock has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Mosaic had a negative net margin of 5.21% and a positive return on equity of 3.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Mosaic Company will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -43.56%.

Mosaic Company Profile

Mosaic Co is one of the world’s leading producers and marketers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. The company’s primary business activities center on the extraction, processing and distribution of phosphate rock, phosphate-based fertilizers and potash products. These core nutrients are essential components in modern agriculture, supporting crop yields and soil health across a range of farming applications.

In its phosphate segment, Mosaic operates mining and production facilities that convert phosphate rock into concentrated phosphates, finished phosphate fertilizers and feed phosphates for animal nutrition.