Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,034,527 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 position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Mosaic from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mosaic news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mosaic Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE MOS traded up $0.1550 on Thursday, hitting $32.6050. 3,496,350 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,428,351. 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 52-week low of $22.36 and a 52-week high of $38.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.13.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.11 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 4.74%. The company's revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic 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.