Comerica Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Comerica Bank reduced its stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,901 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 8,679 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in Mosaic were worth $1,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Mosaic by 30.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 300,338 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $7,854,000 after purchasing an additional 69,763 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in Mosaic by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 68,872 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,693,000 after buying an additional 3,963 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mosaic by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,127 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $421,000 after buying an additional 4,495 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $640,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Mosaic by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 21,038 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 2,008 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mosaic Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:MOS traded down $0.63 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.60. 4,988,632 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,677,028. The Mosaic Company has a 1-year low of $22.36 and a 1-year high of $34.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $10.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 3.24%. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. Mosaic's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Mosaic's payout ratio is 75.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on MOS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Mosaic from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mosaic currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.58.

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.