Willis Investment Counsel Has $3.65 Million Position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Willis Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 135,138 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,360 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel's holdings in Mosaic were worth $3,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Mosaic by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 52,487 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 3,010 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Mosaic by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 122,893 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Hourglass Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mosaic during the fourth quarter valued at $1,035,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its position in Mosaic by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 12,068 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 2,634 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,056,000. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MOS. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered Mosaic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Mosaic from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.58.

Mosaic Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of NYSE MOS traded up $1.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $35.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,010,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,815,265. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $31.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $11.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.14. The Mosaic Company has a one year low of $22.36 and a one year high of $37.69.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 6.00%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Mosaic's payout ratio is currently 75.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 128,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,592,948.58. The trade was a 12.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.50% 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.