Confluence Investment Management LLC Buys 863 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,527 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 863 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its position in shares of Mosaic by 16.8% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 139,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,733,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Mosaic by 30.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 300,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,854,000 after buying an additional 69,763 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Mosaic by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 39,617 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,061,000 after buying an additional 1,534 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 12.6% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 12,282 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 1,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the third quarter worth $303,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Stock Up 3.2 %

MOS opened at $25.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.88. The Mosaic Company has a twelve month low of $23.56 and a twelve month high of $37.00.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.24). Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 3.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. Mosaic’s quarterly revenue was down 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Mosaic Company will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. Mosaic’s payout ratio is presently 77.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MOS. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, CIBC began coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued 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 an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.40.

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.