The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.58.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Mosaic from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Mosaic in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mosaic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Mosaic Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:MOS opened at $35.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $29.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.07. Mosaic has a 52-week low of $22.36 and a 52-week high of $35.96.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 3.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Mosaic will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mosaic

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mosaic by 300.1% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 27,758 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $749,000 after acquiring an additional 20,821 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 169.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 956 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,836 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 7,760 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Mosaic by 170.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 54,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 34,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 1st quarter valued at about $304,000. 77.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Mosaic

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.