The Mosaic Company $MOS Holdings Lifted by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in The Mosaic Company by 4.1% during the first quarter, owning over 11.4 million shares valued at approximately $310.5 million.
• Recent insider activity includes SVP Walter F. Precourt III selling 18,000 shares at an average price of $35.73, reducing his position by 12.28%.
• Analysts are optimistic about Mosaic, with multiple firms raising price targets, leading to an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.42.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,497,545 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 456,327 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 3.63% of Mosaic worth $310,549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Mosaic by 295.1% in the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 158,841 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,290,000 after acquiring an additional 118,642 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the 1st quarter worth approximately $108,000. Boston Partners lifted 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 worth $215,540,000 after purchasing an additional 2,368,094 shares during the last quarter. Terril Brothers Inc. boosted its position in Mosaic by 30.7% during the 1st quarter. Terril Brothers Inc. now owns 168,545 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,552,000 after purchasing an additional 39,625 shares during the period. Finally, Ranmore Fund Management Ltd grew its stake in Mosaic by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. Ranmore Fund Management Ltd now owns 340,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,183,000 after buying an additional 80,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Mosaic

In other news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of Mosaic stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.73, for a total value of $643,140.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 128,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,592,948.58. This trade represents a 12.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mosaic Price Performance

Shares of MOS traded up $0.1550 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $32.6050. The stock had a trading volume of 2,182,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,548,435. The Mosaic Company has a 52 week low of $22.36 and a 52 week high of $38.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $35.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.09. The company has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.12.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MOS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Mosaic from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mosaic has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.