Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Reduces Stake in The Mosaic Company $MOS

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its stake in The Mosaic Company by 13.5%, selling 22,500 shares and now holding 144,000 shares valued at $3,889,000.
• Institutional investors collectively own 77.54% of Mosaic's stock, with several firms, including Boston Partners and Victory Capital Management, significantly increasing their positions during the first quarter.
• Mosaic reported an EPS of $0.51 for the last quarter, missing estimates by ($0.20), along with a revenue of $3.01 billion, below the expected $3.11 billion.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 13.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 144,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 22,500 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings in Mosaic were worth $3,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Mosaic in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in Mosaic in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Mosaic by 102.3% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,062 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mosaic in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Mosaic in the 1st quarter worth about $64,000. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mosaic Trading Down 1.1%

MOS traded down $0.37 on Tuesday, hitting $32.22. 616,624 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,437,763. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.71. 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 12 month low of $22.36 and a 12 month high of $38.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.22 billion, a PE ratio of 10.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.99.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 4.74% and a net margin of 8.35%.The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. Mosaic's revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Mosaic from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective 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. 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Mosaic from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.42.

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.