Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Sells 195,940 Shares of The Mosaic Company $MOS

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. decreased its holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 6.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,945,644 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 195,940 shares during the period. Mosaic makes up 2.5% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $107,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MOS. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Mosaic by 172.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 684 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Mosaic by 169.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 956 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 650.0% in the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 750 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mosaic in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America decreased their price target on Mosaic from $49.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Mizuho set a $34.00 price target on Mosaic in a report on Monday, October 20th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Mosaic in a report on Monday, December 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.60.

Mosaic Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:MOS opened at $23.62 on Friday. 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 Mosaic Company has a 12-month low of $22.36 and a 12-month high of $38.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.49. The company has a market capitalization of $7.50 billion, a PE ratio of 6.12, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is 22.80%.

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.