The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) Short Interest Up 23.5% in May

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) saw 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,180,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 3.8% of the company's shares are sold short.

Insider Activity at Mosaic

In other news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.73, for a total transaction of $643,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 300.1% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 27,758 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 20,821 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Mosaic by 169.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 956 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,836 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 7,760 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Mosaic by 170.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 54,176 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 34,151 shares during the period. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in Mosaic during the first quarter valued at approximately $304,000. 77.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mosaic Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of MOS stock traded down $0.43 on Thursday, hitting $36.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,215,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,660,917. Mosaic has a fifty-two week low of $22.36 and a fifty-two week high of $37.69. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $30.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Mosaic will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MOS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Mosaic from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.