Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $34.00 to $42.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Mosaic traded as high as $34.42 and last traded at $34.22, with a volume of 6670300 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.95.

MOS has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Mosaic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Mosaic from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Mosaic from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Mosaic to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mosaic has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.58.

Institutional Trading of Mosaic

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Mosaic during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of Mosaic by 110.8% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Mosaic by 102.3% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Mosaic during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mosaic Stock Down 1.8%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.66 and a 200-day moving average of $26.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $10.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.86%.

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.