Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Raises Position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its holdings in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 52.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 103,495 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 35,820 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Mosaic were worth $2,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,363,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Mosaic by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,507,131 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $332,005,000 after acquiring an additional 3,058,243 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake 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 valued at $271,382,000 after acquiring an additional 2,151,426 shares during the last quarter. Covalis Capital LLP bought a new position in shares of Mosaic in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,031,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 190.8% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,593,914 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $39,178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,812 shares during the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MOS. Scotiabank upped their target price on Mosaic from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer upgraded Mosaic from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Mosaic from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $29.00 in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mosaic has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.42.

Mosaic Stock Performance

Shares of Mosaic stock traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $30.44. 6,174,010 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,639,234. The company has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.29. The Mosaic Company has a 12 month low of $22.36 and a 12 month high of $32.29.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 160.00%.

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.