The Mosaic Company (MOS) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 4th

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.22 per share by the basic materials company on Thursday, December 18th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th.

Mosaic has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.4%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 7 consecutive years. Mosaic has a dividend payout ratio of 32.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Mosaic to earn $2.20 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.0%.

Mosaic Price Performance

MOS stock opened at $24.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.36, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $30.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Mosaic has a 12-month low of $22.36 and a 12-month high of $38.23.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Mosaic from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Mosaic from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Mosaic from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.08.

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.