AQR Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,311,123 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 435,598 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 1.03% of Mosaic worth $95,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Mosaic by 40.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Mosaic by 5.0% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 7,958 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Mosaic by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 13,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its position in shares of Mosaic by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 28,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $823,000 after buying an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC grew its stake in Mosaic by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 5,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Stock Performance

NYSE MOS opened at $26.52 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Mosaic Company has a twelve month low of $24.11 and a twelve month high of $38.30. The company has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.36.

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

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.74%.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MOS shares. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Mosaic from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Mosaic from $39.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mosaic presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.73.

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.