Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Makes New Investment in The Mosaic Company $MOS

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 54,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,302,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MOS. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 632.6% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,447,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $291,348,000 after buying an additional 7,294,205 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Mosaic in the second quarter valued at $158,085,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Mosaic by 102.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,701,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $267,092,000 after acquiring an additional 3,894,947 shares during the period. Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic in the second quarter worth about $72,380,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,576,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $436,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285,883 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of Mosaic stock opened at $25.49 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The Mosaic Company has a twelve month low of $22.36 and a twelve month high of $38.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $27.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.73.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.26). Mosaic had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 4.49%.The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. Mosaic’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Mosaic’s payout ratio is presently 52.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Mosaic from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Mosaic from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Mosaic from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research raised Mosaic from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Mosaic from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mosaic has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.40.

About Mosaic

Mosaic Co is one of the world’s leading producers and marketers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. The company’s primary business activities center on the extraction, processing and distribution of phosphate rock, phosphate-based fertilizers and potash products. These core nutrients are essential components in modern agriculture, supporting crop yields and soil health across a range of farming applications.

In its phosphate segment, Mosaic operates mining and production facilities that convert phosphate rock into concentrated phosphates, finished phosphate fertilizers and feed phosphates for animal nutrition.