Teacher Retirement System of Texas Invests $2.05 Million in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 75,816 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,048,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Mosaic during the first quarter worth $26,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its position in shares of Mosaic by 115.1% in the 4th quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 3,166 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its stake in Mosaic by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,374 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Mosaic Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of MOS stock traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $36.42. 3,417,530 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,828,277. The firm has a market cap of $11.55 billion, a PE ratio of 31.40, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.12. The Mosaic Company has a 1 year low of $22.36 and a 1 year high of $38.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.37 and a 200 day moving average of $29.49.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 4.91%. The company's revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. Analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MOS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Mosaic from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. CIBC upped their target price on Mosaic from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Mosaic from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Mosaic to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mosaic has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of Mosaic stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 128,546 shares in the company, valued at $4,592,948.58. This trade 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 at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Mosaic 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.