Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 27,660 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Baird Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 28.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,652 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 27,660 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Mosaic were worth $1,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Mosaic by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,507,131 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $332,005,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,243 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Mosaic by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,041,218 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $271,382,000 after buying an additional 2,151,426 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mosaic by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,621,001 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $218,751,000 after buying an additional 269,650 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Mosaic by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,171,642 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $127,119,000 after buying an additional 287,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $97,363,000. 77.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MOS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Mosaic from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mosaic presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.58.

Mosaic Price Performance

Mosaic stock traded up $0.54 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $35.21. 5,302,590 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,692,164. The stock has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.16, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. The stock's fifty day moving average is $27.85 and its 200-day moving average is $26.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Mosaic Company has a 12 month low of $22.36 and a 12 month high of $35.30.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 6.00%. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. Mosaic's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio is currently 75.86%.

Mosaic Company Profile

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.