Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Given New $23.00 Price Target at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada cut its price target on Mosaic to $23 from $25 and maintained a “sector perform” rating, implying about 3.1% upside from the current share price.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly cautious: MarketBeat reports a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $25.58, based on six Buy, fourteen Hold, and three Sell ratings.
• Mosaic reported a quarterly loss of $0.19 per share, missing the $0.01 loss analysts expected; revenue of $3.10 billion topped estimates but fell 10.2% year over year.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by stock analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $25.00 to $23.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "sector perform" rating on the basic materials company's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's target price suggests a potential upside of 3.07% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Freedom Capital lowered Mosaic from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce decreased their target price on Mosaic from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 23rd. downgraded Mosaic from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Monday, October 5th. KeyCorp started coverage on Mosaic in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a "sector weight" rating for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised Mosaic from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $25.58.

Mosaic Stock Performance

MOS opened at $22.32 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.30, a PEG ratio of 19.10 and a beta of 0.88. The company's 50 day moving average is $21.72 and its 200 day moving average is $23.77. Mosaic has a 12-month low of $16.99 and a 12-month high of $32.25.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The basic materials company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.18). Mosaic had a negative net margin of 9.43% and a positive return on equity of 0.58%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mosaic will post 0.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Walter Precourt, III sold 23,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.12, for a total transaction of $508,760.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 116,198 shares in the company, valued at $2,570,299.76. This trade represents a 16.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Mosaic during the second quarter valued at $524,484,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 6.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,240,050 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $363,110,000 after buying an additional 832,914 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $163,662,000. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $108,329,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,136,118 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $105,471,000 after acquiring an additional 25,109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Mosaic Company Profile

The Mosaic Company is a producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. Its products help farmers supply crops with essential nutrients, and the company also makes phosphate-based animal feed ingredients and products for industrial applications.

Mosaic's operations include phosphate mining and processing in the United States and potash mining in Canada. Through its Brazilian operations, Mosaic Fertilizantes, the company produces, blends and distributes crop nutrients and related products in Brazil and other markets in South America.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.