Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Cut to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has downgraded Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, indicating a more cautious outlook on the stock.
• Wells Fargo reduced its price target for Mosaic shares from $38.00 to $34.00, while Barclays increased its target from $40.00 to $46.00.
• Mosaic reported $0.51 EPS for the latest quarter, missing the consensus estimate by $0.20, and had a revenue of $3.01 billion, below expectations.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Mosaic from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Mosaic from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $43.00 price objective (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Mosaic in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Mosaic from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mosaic presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.42.

Mosaic Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of MOS stock traded up $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $34.06. 4,556,421 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,996,379. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.99. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $34.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.00. Mosaic has a twelve month low of $22.36 and a twelve month high of $38.23.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by ($0.20). Mosaic had a return on equity of 4.74% and a net margin of 8.35%.The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Mosaic will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mosaic

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Mosaic by 172.5% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 684 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Mosaic in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its position in shares of Mosaic by 650.0% in the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 750 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mosaic in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mosaic in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

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.