LSV Asset Management Decreases Holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Key Points

• LSV Asset Management reduced its stake in The Mosaic Company by 10.0%, selling 192,300 shares during the first quarter, resulting in a total of 1,735,790 shares valued at approximately $46.88 million.
• Other hedge funds, including Invesco Ltd. and Dimensional Fund Advisors, have increased their holdings in Mosaic, indicating strong institutional interest with 77.54% of the stock owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Mosaic, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.75, reflecting positive sentiment in the market.

LSV Asset Management lessened its holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,735,790 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 192,300 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned about 0.55% of Mosaic worth $46,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MOS. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mosaic by 64.3% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 30,414 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $821,000 after buying an additional 11,908 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Mosaic by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 98,685 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,665,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Mosaic in the first quarter worth $2,513,000. S&CO Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 0.4% during the first quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 1,136,423 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,694,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, De Lisle Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Mosaic by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 110,989 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,997,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mosaic Trading Up 2.5%

MOS stock traded up $0.78 during trading on Thursday, hitting $31.71. The company had a trading volume of 6,560,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,593,764. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $36.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.81. The Mosaic Company has a 12 month low of $22.36 and a 12 month high of $38.23. The stock has a market cap of $10.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. Mosaic had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 4.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of Mosaic stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a report on Monday, July 14th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $43.00 target price (up from $39.00) on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. CIBC lifted their price target on Mosaic from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Barclays increased their price target on Mosaic from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Mosaic to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mosaic has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.50.

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.