Royal Bank of Canada Sells 55,868 Shares of The Mosaic Company $MOS

Royal Bank of Canada decreased its position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 6.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 847,316 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 55,868 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.27% of Mosaic worth $22,885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Mosaic in the first quarter worth $26,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in Mosaic in the first quarter worth $27,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Mosaic in the first quarter worth $64,000. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MOS shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Mosaic from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $43.00 price target (up from $39.00) on shares of Mosaic in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a report on Monday, July 14th. Zacks Research upgraded Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on Mosaic from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.42.

Mosaic Stock Performance

NYSE MOS traded up $0.00 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $33.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,438,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,425,961. The Mosaic Company has a 12 month low of $22.36 and a 12 month high of $38.23. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $34.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.78. The company has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.99. 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 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 the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. Mosaic's quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio is 29.83%.

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.