Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Sets New 52-Week Low - What's Next?

Key Points

• Mosaic shares hit a new 52-week low of $19.73, trading well below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The stock has a market capitalization of about $6.4 billion.
• Analyst sentiment is cautious: Mosaic has an average “Hold” rating and a $27.06 price target, while several analysts recently lowered their targets to $25–$26 or downgraded the stock.
• Recent results were mixed: quarterly EPS of $0.13 slightly exceeded estimates, but revenue fell 6% year over year to $2.82 billion and missed expectations. Mosaic continues to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, yielding approximately 4.4%.

Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low on Thursday. The company traded as low as $19.73 and last traded at $19.9580, with a volume of 1462054 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MOS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. downgraded shares of Mosaic from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mosaic from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $25.00 target price (down from $27.00) on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Mosaic in a report on Friday, August 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mosaic presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.06.

Mosaic Stock Up 0.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.88, a P/E/G ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.91. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $23.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.21.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. Mosaic had a negative net margin of 5.21% and a positive return on equity of 3.77%. The company had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio is -43.56%.

Insider Transactions at Mosaic

In other Mosaic news, SVP Walter Precourt, III sold 23,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.12, for a total transaction of $508,760.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 116,198 shares in the company, valued at $2,570,299.76. This represents a 16.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mosaic

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Mosaic by 22.2% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 366,466 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,345,000 after acquiring an additional 66,608 shares during the last quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd bought a new position in Mosaic in the second quarter valued at about $1,301,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 7.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,486,973 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $63,418,000 after purchasing an additional 170,724 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the second quarter worth about $73,112,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 18.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 401,445 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $10,237,000 after buying an additional 62,883 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

About Mosaic

The Mosaic Company is a global producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. Its products are used by farmers to support plant growth, improve yields and replenish essential nutrients in agricultural soils. Mosaic also produces phosphate-based animal feed ingredients and other crop nutrition products.

Mosaic operates an integrated business that includes mining, processing, manufacturing and distribution. Its phosphate operations are primarily located in the United States, while its potash operations include mining assets in Canada and the United States.

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