Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 54,212 The Mosaic Company $MOS

Key Points

• Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC has acquired a new stake in The Mosaic Company, purchasing 54,212 shares valued at approximately $1.46 million, making it the 28th largest position in their portfolio.
• The Mosaic Company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.51 for the last quarter, which fell short of the consensus estimate of $0.71, while revenue was $3.01 billion, below the expected $3.11 billion.
• Analysts have varying price targets for Mosaic, with UBS Group raising their target to $46.00 and Wells Fargo lowering it to $34.00; the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $36.42.

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 54,212 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,464,000. Mosaic makes up 1.2% of Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Mosaic by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,497,545 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $310,549,000 after purchasing an additional 456,327 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Mosaic by 42.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,979,380 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $215,540,000 after buying an additional 2,368,094 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Mosaic by 5.9% in the 4th 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 period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in Mosaic by 21.7% in 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 buying an additional 711,300 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position 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 worth $90,265,000 after acquiring an additional 921,924 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MOS. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Mosaic from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mosaic presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of Mosaic stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.73, for a total transaction of $643,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 128,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,592,948.58. The trade was a 12.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Mosaic Stock Performance

NYSE:MOS traded up $0.6260 on Monday, reaching $33.1760. 3,988,167 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,532,792. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.21. The firm has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.12. The Mosaic Company has a 52 week low of $22.36 and a 52 week high of $38.23. 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 period last year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

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.