Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $36.40, but opened at $34.30. Mosaic shares last traded at $35.12, with a volume of 2,674,869 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MOS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Mosaic from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Mosaic from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Mosaic in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mosaic in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.58.

Mosaic Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $30.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.73.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 3.24%. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. Mosaic’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is 75.86%.

Insider Activity at Mosaic

In related news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.73, for a total transaction of $643,140.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 128,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,592,948.58. The trade was a 12.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Mosaic during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Mosaic by 169.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 956 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in Mosaic during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Mosaic by 102.3% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the period. Finally, Tobam acquired a new position in Mosaic during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. 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.