Financial Contrast: Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) and Yara International ASA (OTCMKTS:YARIY)

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) and Yara International ASA (OTCMKTS:YARIY) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Mosaic and Yara International ASA, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mosaic	0	6	6	1	2.62
Yara International ASA	1	0	0	2	3.00

Mosaic currently has a consensus price target of $34.58, indicating a potential downside of 4.67%. Given Mosaic’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Mosaic is more favorable than Yara International ASA.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

77.5% of Mosaic shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Yara International ASA shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Mosaic shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Mosaic and Yara International ASA”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mosaic	$11.12 billion	1.03	$174.90 million	$1.16	31.27
Yara International ASA	$13.93 billion	0.70	$15.00 million	$0.57	33.56

Mosaic has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Yara International ASA. Mosaic is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Yara International ASA, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Mosaic and Yara International ASA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mosaic	3.32%	4.91%	2.53%
Yara International ASA	2.04%	10.42%	4.88%

Dividends

Mosaic pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Yara International ASA pays an annual dividend of $0.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Mosaic pays out 75.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Yara International ASA pays out 29.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mosaic has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years. Mosaic is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility & Risk

Mosaic has a beta of 1.14, meaning that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Yara International ASA has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Mosaic beats Yara International ASA on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The company also produces and sells potash for use in the manufacturing of mixed crop nutrients and animal feed ingredients, and for industrial use; and for use in the de-icing and as a water softener regenerant. In addition, it provides nitrogen-based crop nutrients, animal feed ingredients, and other ancillary services; and purchases and sells phosphates, potash, and nitrogen products. The company sells its products to wholesale distributors, retail chains, farmers, cooperatives, independent retailers, and national accounts. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.

About Yara International ASA

Yara International ASA provides crop nutrition and industrial solutions in Norway, European Union, Europe, Africa, Asia, North and Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand. The company offers ammonium- and urea-based fertilizers; compound fertilizers that contain nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium; coatings; biostimulants; organic-based fertilizers; green fertilizers are nitrate-based mineral fertilizers, as well as foliar and fertigation solutions; and nitrate, calcium nitrate, micronutrient, and fertigation and urea fertilizers. It also offers digital solutions, such as variable rate application solutions; N-Sensor, a tractor-mounted hardware; N-Tester, a handheld nitrogen measurement tool; YaraFX Insight, an agricultural API; and Atfarm, a digital toolbox for farmer. The company sells its products under YaraBela, YaraMila, YaraLiva, YaraVita, YaraRega, YaraTera, YaraSuna, and YaraVera and brands. Yara International ASA was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Oslo, Norway.