The Mosaic Company $MOS Shares Sold by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in The Mosaic Company by 25.5%, holding approximately $25.62 million in shares after selling 326,010 shares during the first quarter.
• The Mosaic Company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.51, missing analyst estimates of $0.71, while the company’s revenue for the quarter was $3.01 billion, which was below the expected $3.11 billion.
• Mosaic announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $0.88 and a dividend yield of 2.6%, with a payout ratio of approximately 29.83%.

AQR Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 25.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 950,781 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 326,010 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.30% of Mosaic worth $25,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 36.1% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 56,284 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 14,943 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 53,172 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,119,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 47,186 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,275,000 after acquiring an additional 7,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 23,543 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 2,663 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Mosaic Trading Up 0.0%

MOS traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,338,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,998,796. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $34.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.99. The Mosaic Company has a twelve month low of $22.36 and a twelve month high of $38.23.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 4.74%. The company's revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Mosaic's payout ratio is 29.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MOS shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Mosaic from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Mosaic from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Zacks Research raised Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $43.00 target price (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mosaic has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.42.

Mosaic 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.