The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) Stake Increased by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 204,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,429 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $7,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth $361,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth $295,000. First American Trust FSB acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth $2,613,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Mosaic by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,787,916 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $63,882,000 after buying an additional 77,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Mosaic during the fourth quarter worth $707,000. 77.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mosaic Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE MOS opened at $31.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.97 billion, a PE ratio of 8.88, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.22. The Mosaic Company has a twelve month low of $29.25 and a twelve month high of $45.33. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.43.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Mosaic had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 8.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on MOS shares. Scotiabank raised shares of Mosaic from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Mosaic from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Mosaic from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Mosaic from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.27.

Mosaic 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.