Kentucky Retirement Systems Reduces Stock Holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 602 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Mosaic were worth $700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in Mosaic by 1.8% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 30,921 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $894,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Mosaic by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 42,141 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,216,000 after acquiring an additional 5,918 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Mosaic by 56.8% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 23,595 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 8,550 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 6.8% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 10,613 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the period. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT purchased a new position in shares of Mosaic in the second quarter valued at $1,095,000. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MOS shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Mosaic from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $39.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Mosaic in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Mosaic from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.91.

Mosaic Stock Performance

NYSE MOS opened at $25.56 on Friday. The Mosaic Company has a 52-week low of $24.11 and a 52-week high of $38.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.70 and a 200-day moving average of $29.29. The company has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.92% and a net margin of 2.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Mosaic Company will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. Mosaic’s payout ratio is currently 35.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 39,748 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total transaction of $1,111,354.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,821,628.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Mosaic news, Director Kelvin R. Westbrook sold 12,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.32, for a total value of $346,035.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,359 shares in the company, valued at $938,687.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 39,748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total transaction of $1,111,354.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,821,628.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

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.