Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $36.40, but opened at $34.30. Mosaic shares last traded at $35.12, with a volume of 2,674,869 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MOS shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. BNP Paribas raised Mosaic to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Six equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.58.

Mosaic Trading Down 3.8%

The stock has a market capitalization of $11.11 billion, a PE ratio of 31.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.65.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 3.24%. Mosaic's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.86%.

Insider Transactions at Mosaic

In other Mosaic news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,592,948.58. This represents a 12.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Mosaic

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Mosaic by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,507,131 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $332,005,000 after buying an additional 3,058,243 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 4.1% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,621,001 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $218,751,000 after buying an additional 269,650 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in Mosaic by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,979,380 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $215,540,000 after buying an additional 2,368,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Mosaic by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,171,642 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $127,119,000 after acquiring an additional 287,493 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

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.

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