Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Stock Falls 5.6% – What’s Next?

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)’s share price was down 5.6% on Thursday. The company traded as low as $20.75 and last traded at $20.4380. 853,593 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 8,686,782 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MOS. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on Mosaic in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Mosaic in a report on Friday, August 7th. Mizuho set a $25.00 price target on Mosaic in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Mosaic from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mosaic presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.17.

Mosaic Stock Down 4.3%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.46. The stock has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.26, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.83.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. Mosaic had a positive return on equity of 3.77% and a negative net margin of 5.21%.The company had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. Mosaic’s quarterly revenue was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -43.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Walter Precourt, III sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.12, for a total transaction of $508,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 116,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,570,299.76. The trade was a 16.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mosaic

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MOS. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Mosaic by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 79,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,690,000 after acquiring an additional 8,488 shares in the last quarter. Core Capital Management & Research inc. bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the second quarter valued at about $2,741,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 56.3% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 34,042 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 12,259 shares during the last quarter. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mosaic in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,160,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its position in Mosaic by 154.6% in the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 22,793 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 13,841 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

About Mosaic

The Mosaic Company is a global producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. Its products are used by farmers to support plant growth, improve yields and replenish essential nutrients in agricultural soils. Mosaic also produces phosphate-based animal feed ingredients and other crop nutrition products.

Mosaic operates an integrated business that includes mining, processing, manufacturing and distribution. Its phosphate operations are primarily located in the United States, while its potash operations include mining assets in Canada and the United States.