AQR Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in The Mosaic Company $MOS

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 trimmed its position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 25.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. 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 about 0.30% of Mosaic worth $25,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in Mosaic in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Mosaic by 102.3% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,062 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mosaic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Mosaic in the first quarter valued at approximately $64,000. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MOS shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Mosaic from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $43.00 price target (up from $39.00) on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.42.

Mosaic Stock Performance

MOS stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.57. The company had a trading volume of 1,550,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,426,765. The firm has a market cap of $10.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.99. The Mosaic Company has a 1-year low of $22.36 and a 1-year high of $38.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.20). Mosaic had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 4.74%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.83%.

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.