Mizuho Increases Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Price Target to $29.00

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) had its target price lifted by Mizuho from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

MOS has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.22.

Mosaic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MOS opened at $26.38 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.38 and a 200 day moving average of $27.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.35. Mosaic has a 12 month low of $24.11 and a 12 month high of $38.30.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 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 firm had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mosaic will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MOS. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,351,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $228,018,000 after acquiring an additional 178,844 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Mosaic by 13.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 23,265 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in Mosaic by 71.5% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 45,968 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 19,160 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 0.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 99,473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Mosaic in the third quarter worth approximately $511,000. 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.