Morgan Stanley Lowers Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Price Target to $30.00

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) had its price objective lowered by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $30.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.62% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on MOS. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. CIBC began coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mosaic presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.09.

Mosaic Stock Performance

MOS stock opened at $27.12 on Monday. Mosaic has a 1-year low of $23.56 and a 1-year high of $33.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $25.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.71. The firm has a market cap of $8.61 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.24). Mosaic had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 6.00%. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. Mosaic’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mosaic will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MOS. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Mosaic by 8.6% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 34,964 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,010,000 after purchasing an additional 2,767 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mosaic by 13.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 454,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,130,000 after buying an additional 52,846 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 112,664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,256,000 after acquiring an additional 20,333 shares during the period. Keene & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 25.8% during the 2nd quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 12,280 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 2,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Mosaic by 34.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,337,124 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $183,155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,628,850 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.