Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Buys New Shares in The Mosaic Company $MOS

Key Points

• Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. has acquired 2,034,527 shares of The Mosaic Company, representing a stake of 0.64% and valued at approximately $54.95 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Mosaic, with Cambridge Investment Research Advisors increasing its position by 36.1% in the first quarter.
• Analysts have varying price targets for Mosaic, with Barclays raising their target to $46.00 while Scotiabank lowered theirs to $39.00, showing a mixed outlook on the stock.

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,034,527 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $54,953,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.64% of Mosaic at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 36.1% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 56,284 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 14,943 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 53,172 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mosaic in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,119,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 47,186 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 7,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 23,543 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,663 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mosaic

In related news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 128,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,592,948.58. This trade represents a 12.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

Mosaic Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE MOS traded down $0.1180 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $32.4920. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,294,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,230,758. 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 Mosaic Company has a fifty-two week low of $22.36 and a fifty-two week high of $38.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.21.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Mosaic had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 4.74%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. Mosaic's revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Mosaic from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $43.00 price objective (up from $39.00) on shares of Mosaic in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.