Mosaic Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:MOS)

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 18,192 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 96% compared to the average volume of 9,296 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Mosaic by 172.5% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 684 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the second quarter worth $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 169.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 956 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its stake in Mosaic by 650.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 750 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new position in Mosaic in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. 77.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mosaic Stock Up 3.9%

Mosaic stock opened at $26.17 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. Mosaic has a 1-year low of $22.36 and a 1-year high of $38.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.14. The company has a market capitalization of $8.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.94.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.87 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 10.33% and a return on equity of 6.46%. Mosaic’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mosaic will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MOS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Monday. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Mosaic from $49.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Mosaic from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, CIBC lowered their price target on shares of Mosaic from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mosaic currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.13.

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.