Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Upgraded at Freedom Broker

Key Points

• Freedom Broker upgraded Mosaic from “sell” to “hold” and set a $17 price target, implying 10.51% downside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Mosaic has an overall “Hold” consensus, with 14 Hold, six Buy, and three Sell ratings; the average target price is $25.79.
• Mosaic’s shares closed at $19 after rising $0.61, near their 52-week low of $16.99. Quarterly revenue fell 6% year over year to $2.82 billion, although EPS of $0.13 slightly exceeded estimates.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Freedom Broker from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $17.00 target price on the basic materials company's stock. Freedom Broker's price objective indicates a potential downside of 10.51% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Mosaic from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 16th. downgraded Mosaic from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Mosaic from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $25.00 in a report on Monday, October 5th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Mosaic from $23.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on Mosaic in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a "sector weight" rating for the company. Six 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $25.79.

Mosaic Stock Performance

MOS traded up $0.61 on Monday, reaching $19.00. The company had a trading volume of 8,452,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,925,334. The stock has a market cap of $6.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.40, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.34. Mosaic has a fifty-two week low of $16.99 and a fifty-two week high of $32.25. The company's fifty day moving average is $22.06 and its 200 day moving average is $23.93.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. Mosaic had a negative net margin of 5.21% and a positive return on equity of 3.77%. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Mosaic will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Mosaic

In other news, SVP Walter Precourt, III sold 23,000 shares of Mosaic stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.12, for a total value of $508,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 116,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,570,299.76. The trade was a 16.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mosaic

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

About Mosaic

The Mosaic Company is a global producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. Its products help farmers supply crops with essential nutrients, including phosphorus and potassium, and are sold under brands such as MicroEssentials, Aspire and K-Mag.

Mosaic operates an integrated fertilizer business that includes phosphate rock mining, processing and manufacturing, as well as potash mining and production. The company also produces animal feed ingredients and other products derived from phosphate operations.

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