Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Reaches New 1-Year High After 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. The stock had previously closed at $31.56.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Mosaic from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Mosaic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Mosaic to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Mosaic from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in Mosaic during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Mosaic by 102.3% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted 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. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 77.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mosaic Trading Up 1.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $10.35 billion, a PE ratio of 28.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.54.

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

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders 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 payout ratio is currently 160.00%.

Mosaic Company 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.