Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Stock

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Barclays from $40.00 to $46.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the basic materials company's stock. Barclays's target price indicates a potential upside of 22.08% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on MOS. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Mosaic from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. CIBC lifted their target price on Mosaic from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Mosaic from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.08.

Mosaic Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of MOS stock traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $37.68. 4,873,531 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,829,169. Mosaic has a fifty-two week low of $22.36 and a fifty-two week high of $38.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $11.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.12.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. Mosaic had a return on equity of 4.91% and a net margin of 3.32%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Mosaic will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Mosaic news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.73, for a total value of $643,140.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 128,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,592,948.58. This represents a 12.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 0.9% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 40,256 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,087,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 27.8% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,749 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 2.7% in the first quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,590 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 12.0% in the first quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 4,210 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 92,550 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,275,000 after buying an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

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.