Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) and Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.
Risk and Volatility
Mosaic has a beta of 1.72, meaning that its stock price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nutrien has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Mosaic and Nutrien's gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Mosaic | $8.91 billion | 0.55 | $-1,067,400,000.00 | $0.19 | 68.16 |
| Nutrien | $20.02 billion | 0.95 | $992 million | $2.17 | 15.32 |
Nutrien has higher revenue and earnings than Mosaic. Nutrien is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mosaic, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Dividends
Mosaic pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Nutrien pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Mosaic pays out 105.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Nutrien pays out 82.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Mosaic has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Nutrien has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Nutrien is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Profitability
This table compares Mosaic and Nutrien's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Mosaic | -15.91% | -0.53% | -0.26% |
| Nutrien | 4.49% | 4.66% | 2.27% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Mosaic and Nutrien, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Mosaic | 0 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 2.50 |
| Nutrien | 0 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 2.77 |
Mosaic presently has a consensus price target of $17.00, indicating a potential upside of 31.27%. Nutrien has a consensus price target of $49.30, indicating a potential upside of 48.32%. Given Nutrien's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Nutrien is more favorable than Mosaic.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
72.9% of Mosaic shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.9% of Nutrien shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Mosaic shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of Nutrien shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Nutrien beats Mosaic on 15 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
