Cohen & Steers Inc. Sells 196,881 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Cohen & Steers Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 44.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 242,432 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 196,881 shares during the quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc.’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $5,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,507,131 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $332,005,000 after buying an additional 3,058,243 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,621,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $218,751,000 after purchasing an additional 269,650 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 4th quarter worth about $97,363,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,368,596 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $82,800,000 after buying an additional 150,186 shares during the period. Finally, Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,138,125 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $77,135,000 after acquiring an additional 386,545 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MOS opened at $26.55 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $25.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.14. The Mosaic Company has a twelve month low of $22.36 and a twelve month high of $32.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.04.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued 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 3.31%. Mosaic’s payout ratio is 160.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MOS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Mosaic from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Mosaic from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Mosaic from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $26.00 to $29.00 in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.58.

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.