Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Oppenheimer downgraded the stock from an outperform rating to a market perform rating. The stock had previously closed at $27.58, but opened at $26.48. Mosaic shares last traded at $26.3150, with a volume of 5,446,179 shares trading hands.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on MOS. Zacks Research raised Mosaic from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. HSBC cut their price target on Mosaic from $35.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Mosaic from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Mosaic from $38.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.07.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mosaic

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MOS. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mosaic by 2.8% during the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 12,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mosaic by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,749 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 25.7% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 54.3% in the third quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abundance Wealth Counselors boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 1.8% during the second quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 22,777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mosaic Stock Down 4.5%

The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.33. The stock has a market cap of $8.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.82, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.94.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.01. Mosaic had a net margin of 10.33% and a return on equity of 6.46%. The firm had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.80%.

Mosaic Company Profile

Mosaic Co is one of the world’s leading producers and marketers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. The company’s primary business activities center on the extraction, processing and distribution of phosphate rock, phosphate-based fertilizers and potash products. These core nutrients are essential components in modern agriculture, supporting crop yields and soil health across a range of farming applications.

In its phosphate segment, Mosaic operates mining and production facilities that convert phosphate rock into concentrated phosphates, finished phosphate fertilizers and feed phosphates for animal nutrition.