Cetera Investment Advisers Sells 28,526 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Cetera Investment Advisers trimmed its position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 59.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,864 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 28,526 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Mosaic were worth $488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the 4th quarter valued at $393,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Mosaic in the 4th quarter valued at $1,347,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Mosaic by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 9,668 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 2,087 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP bought a new stake in Mosaic in the 4th quarter valued at $375,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Mosaic by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,148,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $28,237,000 after acquiring an additional 423,546 shares during the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mosaic Trading Up 0.7%

Mosaic stock traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $36.17. The company had a trading volume of 6,943,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,699,944. The firm has a market cap of $11.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.19. The Mosaic Company has a 1 year low of $22.36 and a 1 year high of $36.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.37.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 6.00%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on MOS shares. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.58.

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.