78,400 Shares in The Mosaic Company $MOS Purchased by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 78,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,860,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Mosaic by 169.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 956 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 102.3% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the period. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 88.8% in the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MOS. Wall Street Zen cut Mosaic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Mosaic from $49.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Zacks Research lowered Mosaic from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Mosaic from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Mizuho set a $34.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mosaic has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.46.

Mosaic Stock Performance

Shares of MOS opened at $29.59 on Tuesday. The Mosaic Company has a 12 month low of $22.36 and a 12 month high of $38.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $9.39 billion, a PE ratio of 10.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.00.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 4.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Mosaic’s payout ratio is 29.83%.

Mosaic 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.