Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Mosaic (NYSE:MOS)

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 14,502 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 50% compared to the typical daily volume of 9,672 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MOS. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Mosaic from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Mizuho dropped their price target on Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mosaic from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on Mosaic from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.70.

Mosaic Stock Performance

MOS traded up $1.24 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $24.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,753,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,741,136. The firm has a market cap of $7.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company’s 50-day moving average is $26.19 and its 200-day moving average is $26.35. Mosaic has a 52 week low of $22.48 and a 52 week high of $33.44.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Mosaic’s payout ratio is currently 160.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mosaic

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in Mosaic by 110.8% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Tobam bought a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

About Mosaic

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.