Nuveen LLC Purchases Shares of 1,254,998 The Mosaic Company $MOS

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired 1,254,998 shares of The Mosaic Company in the first quarter, valued at approximately $33.9 million, increasing its stake to 0.40% of the company's total shares.
• The Mosaic Company's stock opened at $32.47 and has a market cap of $10.3 billion, with a recent quarterly EPS of $0.51, missing analysts' estimates by $0.20.
• Insider Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares, reducing his ownership by 12.28%, while hedge funds hold 77.54% of Mosaic's stock.

Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,254,998 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $33,897,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 0.40% of Mosaic at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 24.2% in the 4th 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. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Mosaic by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,171,642 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $127,119,000 after acquiring an additional 287,493 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in Mosaic by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,990,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $98,086,000 after acquiring an additional 711,300 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,672,283 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $90,265,000 after buying an additional 921,924 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,595,452 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $97,113,000 after buying an additional 226,856 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MOS shares. Zacks Research upgraded Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Mosaic from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. CIBC raised their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Mosaic from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.42.

Insider Activity at Mosaic

In other news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.73, for a total transaction of $643,140.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 128,546 shares in the company, valued at $4,592,948.58. This trade represents a 12.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mosaic Stock Performance

MOS stock traded down $0.0950 on Wednesday, hitting $32.1450. The company had a trading volume of 1,326,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,556,389. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The Mosaic Company has a 12-month low of $22.36 and a 12-month high of $38.23. The stock has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.12. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $35.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.08.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.20). Mosaic had a return on equity of 4.74% and a net margin of 8.35%.The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.