Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Sets New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $36.51 and last traded at $36.25, with a volume of 100788 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MOS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mosaic presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.58.

Mosaic Trading Up 0.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.50, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. The company's 50-day moving average is $30.39 and its 200-day moving average is $27.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.04. Mosaic had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 6.00%. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research 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 given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio is presently 75.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mosaic

In other Mosaic news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of Mosaic stock in a transaction dated 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 now directly owns 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mosaic

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,507,131 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $332,005,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,243 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 4.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,497,545 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $310,549,000 after purchasing an additional 456,327 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,621,001 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $218,751,000 after purchasing an additional 269,650 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 42.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,979,380 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $215,540,000 after purchasing an additional 2,368,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,171,642 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $127,119,000 after purchasing an additional 287,493 shares in the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.