Sylvest Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Sylvest Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 17,522 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $473,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MOS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,368,596 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $82,800,000 after acquiring an additional 150,186 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in Mosaic by 1.3% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 53,172 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Mosaic during the fourth quarter valued at $1,054,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Mosaic by 59.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,682 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Mosaic by 0.8% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 116,101 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,136,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mosaic Price Performance

MOS traded down $0.26 during trading on Thursday, hitting $35.22. 3,769,497 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,810,819. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $33.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.61. The Mosaic Company has a 1 year low of $22.36 and a 1 year high of $37.69. The company has a market cap of $11.17 billion, a PE ratio of 19.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.44 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Mosaic had a return on equity of 4.91% and a net margin of 3.32%. The company's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MOS. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Mosaic to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Mosaic from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. CIBC lifted their target price on Mosaic from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.58.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $35.73, for a total transaction of $643,140.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.