Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $29.00 to $35.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Mosaic traded as high as $32.42 and last traded at $32.30, with a volume of 292677 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.56.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Oppenheimer upgraded Mosaic from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Mosaic from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.17.

Institutional Trading of Mosaic

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MOS. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Mosaic in the first quarter worth $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in Mosaic by 110.8% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in Mosaic during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Mosaic by 102.3% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 77.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mosaic Trading Up 1.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $10.35 billion, a PE ratio of 28.91, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.54.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 3.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 160.00%.

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.