Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Reduces Holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 79,446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 15,957 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $1,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Mosaic by 25.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 30,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 6,278 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Mosaic by 46.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mosaic by 2,501.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 156,761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,198,000 after purchasing an additional 150,736 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 41,038 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 87.2% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 70,314 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,878,000 after buying an additional 32,745 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Stock Performance

NYSE MOS opened at $23.90 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The Mosaic Company has a 1-year low of $23.05 and a 1-year high of $33.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. This is a positive change from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MOS shares. Barclays downgraded shares of Mosaic from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Mosaic from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.80.

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.