Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Trading 3.9% Higher - Here's What Happened

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 3.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $35.87 and last traded at $35.93. Approximately 2,556,067 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 4,788,819 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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 decreased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.58.

Mosaic Trading Up 0.6%

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 firm has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.84, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.14. The firm's fifty day moving average is $31.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.05.

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

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.86%.

Insider Activity

In other Mosaic news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.73, for a total value of $643,140.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 128,546 shares in the company, valued at $4,592,948.58. The trade was a 12.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mosaic

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MOS. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Mosaic by 29.3% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Mosaic by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,497,545 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $310,549,000 after acquiring an additional 456,327 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Mosaic by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,621,001 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $218,751,000 after acquiring an additional 269,650 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in Mosaic by 42.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,979,380 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $215,540,000 after acquiring an additional 2,368,094 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Mosaic by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,171,642 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $127,119,000 after acquiring an additional 287,493 shares during the period. 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.