Polianta Ltd Buys Shares of 37,200 The Mosaic Company $MOS

Key Points

• Polianta Ltd has acquired 37,200 shares of The Mosaic Company, invested at approximately $1.36 million, reflecting a growing interest from institutional investors, which now own 77.54% of the stock.
• Several research firms have adjusted their target prices for Mosaic, with Barclays increasing its target from $40 to $46 and maintaining an "overweight" rating, while Wells Fargo lowered it from $38 to $34.
• Mosaic reported earnings of $0.51 EPS for the last quarter, missing estimates by $0.20, and has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22, reflecting a 2.6% yield.

Polianta Ltd bought a new stake in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 37,200 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,357,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bangor Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Mosaic by 169.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 956 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in Mosaic during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Mosaic by 102.3% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,062 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MOS. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Mosaic from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Mosaic from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on Mosaic from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Mosaic presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.42.

Mosaic Price Performance

MOS stock traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.97. 4,302,160 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,916,739. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 1.14. The Mosaic Company has a 52 week low of $22.36 and a 52 week high of $38.23.

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

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.83%.

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.