Merit Financial Group LLC Increases Stake in The Mosaic Company $MOS

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 90.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 55,536 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,353 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $1,926,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MOS. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its position in shares of Mosaic by 38.8% in the third quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 108,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,773,000 after purchasing an additional 30,400 shares during the period. Shilanski & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Mosaic during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,024,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the third quarter worth $286,000. waypoint wealth counsel bought a new position in shares of Mosaic in the third quarter worth $362,000. Finally, Ethic Inc. grew its position in shares of Mosaic by 24.0% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 17,022 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 3,299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MOS. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Mosaic from $40.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. HSBC cut their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $35.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mosaic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $27.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.73.

Mosaic Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of Mosaic stock opened at $25.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The Mosaic Company has a 1 year low of $22.36 and a 1 year high of $38.23. The firm has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of 6.48, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.86.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.80%.

About Mosaic

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.