The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) Short Interest Update

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,940,000 shares, an increase of 36.1% from the March 31st total of 5,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,790,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on MOS shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on Mosaic in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Mosaic from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Mosaic from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Mizuho lowered shares of Mosaic from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $42.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of Mosaic from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.27.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 3.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,792,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $313,020,000 after purchasing an additional 268,966 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 7.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,107,545 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $217,429,000 after acquiring an additional 424,063 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,969,039 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $141,829,000 after acquiring an additional 189,706 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Mosaic by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,824,263 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $136,641,000 after purchasing an additional 186,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Mosaic by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,062,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $109,042,000 after purchasing an additional 107,011 shares in the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mosaic Price Performance

MOS stock opened at $30.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.53 and a 200 day moving average of $33.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $9.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.85, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.50. Mosaic has a 1 year low of $29.25 and a 1 year high of $43.99.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 8.51% and a return on equity of 9.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mosaic will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.07%.

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.