Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $26.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $37.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Mosaic in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Mosaic from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Oppenheimer set a $40.00 target price on Mosaic in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Mosaic from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mosaic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mosaic presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.46.

Mosaic Price Performance

Mosaic stock opened at $25.55 on Tuesday. Mosaic has a 1 year low of $22.36 and a 1 year high of $38.23. 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 50 day moving average price of $31.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.38. The company has a market cap of $8.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.66, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.00.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.01. Mosaic had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 4.74%. The company had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. Mosaic’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Mosaic will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Mosaic’s payout ratio is presently 22.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mosaic

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in Mosaic by 2,621.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 391,665 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,583,000 after buying an additional 377,273 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 95.9% in the third quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 9.3% in the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 144,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,010,000 after purchasing an additional 12,329 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 3.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,186,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $318,585,000 after purchasing an additional 331,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Mosaic by 79.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 521,032 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $18,069,000 after purchasing an additional 230,876 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

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.