First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Sells 24,787 Shares of The Mosaic Company $MOS

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. reduced its holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 79,652 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 24,787 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $2,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MOS. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 27.8% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,749 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in Mosaic during the 1st quarter worth about $201,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Mosaic by 170.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 54,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 34,151 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Mosaic by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,836 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 7,760 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 169.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 956 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Trading Up 2.3%

Mosaic stock opened at $28.80 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.46, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.14. The Mosaic Company has a 52 week low of $22.36 and a 52 week high of $38.23.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.01. Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.46% and a net margin of 10.33%.The company had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. The business’s 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 year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MOS. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Mosaic from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Wolfe Research reduced their price target on Mosaic from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Oppenheimer set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, CIBC reduced their target price on shares of Mosaic from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mosaic presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.50.

Mosaic Company Profile

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.