Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Trims Stock Holdings in The Mosaic Company $MOS

Key Points

• Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. reduced its holdings in The Mosaic Company by 8.3%, selling 8,566 shares and ultimately owning 94,929 shares valued at approximately $2.57 million.
• Institutional investors hold 77.54% of Mosaic's stock, with Boston Partners significantly increasing its holdings by 42.2% in the same quarter.
• Mosaic reported earnings of $0.51 EPS for the last quarter, missing analysts' expectations of $0.71, while its revenue increased by 6.7% year-over-year.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lessened its stake in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 8.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,929 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 8,566 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Mosaic were worth $2,565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MOS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Mosaic by 4.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,497,545 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $310,549,000 after purchasing an additional 456,327 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 42.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,979,380 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $215,540,000 after buying an additional 2,368,094 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 921,924 shares in the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Monday, July 14th. CIBC boosted their target price on Mosaic from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Mosaic from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on Mosaic from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.73, for a total value of $643,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 128,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,592,948.58. This represents a 12.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

Mosaic Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:MOS traded up $0.28 on Wednesday, hitting $33.58. 616,602 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,522,005. The stock has a market cap of $10.66 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.12. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.09 and a 200-day moving average of $31.27. The Mosaic Company has a fifty-two week low of $22.36 and a fifty-two week high of $38.23.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. Mosaic's quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities 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.