Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded the stock from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating. The stock had previously closed at $33.44, but opened at $30.60. Royal Bank Of Canada now has a $30.00 price target on the stock. Mosaic shares last traded at $30.77, with a volume of 3,530,951 shares traded.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on Mosaic from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Mosaic from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target (up from $39.00) on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen cut Mosaic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Scotiabank cut Mosaic from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mosaic presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.83.

Institutional Trading of Mosaic

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Mosaic by 172.5% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 684 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank purchased a new position in Mosaic in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its holdings in Mosaic by 650.0% in the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 750 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Mosaic in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. purchased a new position in Mosaic in the second quarter valued at $31,000. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mosaic Stock Down 9.1%

The stock has a market cap of $9.64 billion, a PE ratio of 10.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $33.42 and a 200 day moving average of $33.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 4.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.83%.

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.