KBC Group NV Sells 23,876 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

KBC Group NV lessened its holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 2.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 810,337 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 23,876 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $21,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MOS. Highlander Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 515.4% in the first quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Mosaic by 40.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new position in Mosaic during the 2nd quarter worth $46,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the 2nd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 23.2% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MOS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.22.

Mosaic Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:MOS opened at $26.39 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $26.38 and its 200 day moving average is $27.92. The Mosaic Company has a 12 month low of $24.11 and a 12 month high of $38.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.24). Mosaic had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 6.00%. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Mosaic’s payout ratio is 74.34%.

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.