Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $19.73 and last traded at $19.9580, with a volume of 1462054 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MOS has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. HSBC reduced their price target on Mosaic from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Mosaic from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Zacks Research raised Mosaic from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Mizuho set a $25.00 price objective on Mosaic in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mosaic has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.06.

Mosaic Stock Up 0.7%

The firm has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.88, a PEG ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $23.52 and a 200 day moving average of $23.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Mosaic had a positive return on equity of 3.77% and a negative net margin of 5.21%.The company’s revenue was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Mosaic Company will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. Mosaic’s payout ratio is presently -43.56%.

Insider Transactions at Mosaic

In other Mosaic news, SVP Walter Precourt, III sold 23,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.12, for a total value of $508,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 116,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,570,299.76. This trade represents a 16.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mosaic

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 2nd quarter worth about $524,484,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,240,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $363,110,000 after buying an additional 832,914 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in Mosaic in the 2nd quarter valued at about $163,662,000. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in Mosaic in the 2nd quarter valued at about $108,329,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Mosaic by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,136,118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $105,471,000 after buying an additional 25,109 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

About Mosaic

The Mosaic Company is a global producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. Its products are used by farmers to support plant growth, improve yields and replenish essential nutrients in agricultural soils. Mosaic also produces phosphate-based animal feed ingredients and other crop nutrition products.

Mosaic operates an integrated business that includes mining, processing, manufacturing and distribution. Its phosphate operations are primarily located in the United States, while its potash operations include mining assets in Canada and the United States.