Public Sector Pension Investment Board Trims Position in The Mosaic Company $MOS

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board reduced its stake in The Mosaic Company by 67.9%, holding 84,903 shares worth approximately $2.29 million after selling 179,755 shares in the first quarter.
• Mosaic reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS), missing analysts' expectations of $0.71 EPS, with revenues of $3.01 billion compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion, though revenue was up 6.7% year-over-year.
• Analysts have generally upgraded their ratings on Mosaic; Barclays raised its target price to $46.00 while Zacks moved the stock from "hold" to "strong-buy," reflecting positive sentiment among research firms.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lessened its position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 67.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,903 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 179,755 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board's holdings in Mosaic were worth $2,293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,171,642 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $127,119,000 after buying an additional 287,493 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Mosaic by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,990,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $98,086,000 after acquiring an additional 711,300 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,672,283 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $90,265,000 after buying an additional 921,924 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,595,452 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $97,113,000 after buying an additional 226,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 3,187,445 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $78,347,000 after buying an additional 565,632 shares in the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MOS. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $43.00 price target (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Mosaic in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Two 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.42.

Mosaic Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE MOS traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $33.30. 5,164,965 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,457,686. The Mosaic Company has a 52-week low of $22.36 and a 52-week high of $38.23. The firm has a market cap of $10.57 billion, a PE ratio of 11.29, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mosaic news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 128,546 shares in the company, valued at $4,592,948.58. This represents a 12.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

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.