Comerica Bank Raises Stock Position in The Mosaic Company $MOS

Key Points

• Comerica Bank increased its stake in The Mosaic Company by 129.8% during the first quarter, owning 112,357 shares worth approximately $3.03 million.
• Analysts have a positive outlook on Mosaic, with upgrades to "strong-buy" and price targets ranging from $39 to $46, reflecting strong market confidence in the company.
• Mosaic announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22, which will yield 2.6% annually, indicating a stable financial position and commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Comerica Bank boosted its stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 129.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,357 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 63,456 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in Mosaic were worth $3,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MOS. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Mosaic in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in Mosaic in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Mosaic by 102.3% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,062 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the 1st quarter valued at about $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Mosaic Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MOS traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.67. The company had a trading volume of 3,380,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,484,220. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $34.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.51. The stock has a market cap of $10.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07, a P/E/G 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 company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.11 billion. Mosaic had a return on equity of 4.74% and a net margin of 8.35%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mosaic from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $43.00 price objective (up from $39.00) on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Two research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mosaic has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.42.

Mosaic Company 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.