The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) Short Interest Update

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,020,000 shares, a growth of 23.5% from the April 30th total of 9,730,000 shares. Approximately 3.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,180,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Mosaic Trading Down 4.4%

NYSE MOS traded down $1.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $34.80. The company had a trading volume of 11,022,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,754,750. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Mosaic has a one year low of $22.36 and a one year high of $37.69. The company has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.14. The company's fifty day moving average is $30.73 and its 200-day moving average is $27.71.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 6.00%. The company's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mosaic will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. Mosaic's payout ratio is presently 75.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the company'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 owns 128,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,592,948.58. This represents a 12.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Mosaic

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 169.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 956 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mosaic in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of Mosaic in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 102.3% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,062 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MOS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mosaic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Mizuho dropped 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Mosaic from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mosaic has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.58.

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.