Mosaic Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:MOS)

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 25,438 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 161% compared to the average volume of 9,734 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MOS. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Mosaic from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. CIBC began coverage on Mosaic in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Mosaic from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays upgraded Mosaic from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $27.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.64.

Mosaic Price Performance

NYSE:MOS opened at $27.95 on Thursday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.16. The stock has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. Mosaic has a 52 week low of $22.48 and a 52 week high of $33.44.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 160.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mosaic

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in Mosaic by 110.8% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Tobam bought a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 180,900.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809 shares during the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.