HighTower Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,977 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 40.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new position in Mosaic in the second quarter worth approximately $46,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Mosaic by 180,900.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Mosaic during the second quarter worth $49,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its position in Mosaic by 23.2% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. CIBC assumed coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.40.

Mosaic Price Performance

Mosaic stock opened at $23.88 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $26.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.20. The firm has a market cap of $7.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Mosaic Company has a 52-week low of $23.70 and a 52-week high of $37.63.

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

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.34%.

Mosaic 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.