Blueshift Asset Management LLC Takes $222,000 Position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 8,287 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 23.1% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 10,271 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 1,929 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic in the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in shares of Mosaic by 171.4% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 282,331 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,561,000 after purchasing an additional 178,293 shares during the period. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 3rd quarter valued at about $281,000. Finally, Mirabella Financial Services LLP boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 28.5% in the third quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 16,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 3,586 shares during the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MOS shares. Barclays lowered their target price on Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.22.

Mosaic Stock Performance

Shares of MOS opened at $26.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.35. The Mosaic Company has a 12 month low of $24.11 and a 12 month high of $38.30. The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.44 and its 200-day moving average is $27.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 3.24%. Mosaic’s quarterly revenue was down 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Mosaic’s payout ratio is 74.34%.

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.