Van ECK Associates Corp Lowers Position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,403,505 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 166,826 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.43% of Mosaic worth $50,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 100.5% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 826 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Mosaic by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,455 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Mosaic by 526.1% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Mosaic during the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mosaic Stock Performance

NYSE MOS traded up $0.53 on Tuesday, hitting $31.39. 7,772,165 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,858,448. The business's 50 day moving average price is $31.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.19. The Mosaic Company has a 52-week low of $29.25 and a 52-week high of $43.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.50.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Mosaic had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 8.51%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 29.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MOS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut shares of Mosaic from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $42.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Scotiabank raised Mosaic from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Mosaic from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Mosaic from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Mizuho cut shares of Mosaic from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $42.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mosaic has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.27.

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.