Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Mosaic from "sell" to "strong sell", adding to a string of cautious analyst calls on the fertilizer maker.
• Other firms have also turned less optimistic: Berenberg cut its price target to $27 and JPMorgan lowered its target to $19, while the overall consensus remains Hold with a target price of $27.11.
• Mosaic shares were up 3.6% to $21.50 in Friday trading, but the company recently reported EPS of $0.05 versus expectations of $0.20, even as revenue came in ahead of estimates at $3 billion.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on MOS. Berenberg Bank cut their price target on Mosaic from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Mosaic from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, June 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Mosaic from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mosaic has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.11.

Mosaic Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of NYSE MOS traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $21.50. 6,736,617 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,571,846. The company has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 165.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.82. Mosaic has a 52-week low of $19.80 and a 52-week high of $37.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.00.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The basic materials company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.15). Mosaic had a net margin of 0.36% and a return on equity of 4.66%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Mosaic will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Mosaic

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MOS. Dorsey Wright & Associates purchased a new position in Mosaic in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,170,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 87.5% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 376,905 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,080,000 after purchasing an additional 175,914 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in Mosaic by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 380,138 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $13,183,000 after purchasing an additional 79,222 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,302,000. Finally, Clough Capital Partners L P acquired a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the third quarter worth approximately $1,435,000. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Mosaic

Mosaic Co is one of the world's leading producers and marketers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. The company's primary business activities center on the extraction, processing and distribution of phosphate rock, phosphate-based fertilizers and potash products. These core nutrients are essential components in modern agriculture, supporting crop yields and soil health across a range of farming applications.

In its phosphate segment, Mosaic operates mining and production facilities that convert phosphate rock into concentrated phosphates, finished phosphate fertilizers and feed phosphates for animal nutrition.

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