V Square Quantitative Management LLC Increases Position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 5.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,764 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $235,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Mosaic by 2.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 31,946 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mosaic by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 43,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after buying an additional 8,842 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Mosaic in the 3rd quarter valued at about $437,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 42,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,269,494 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,997,000 after acquiring an additional 28,816 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mosaic Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE MOS opened at $26.26 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Mosaic Company has a fifty-two week low of $24.11 and a fifty-two week high of $38.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.47. The stock has a market cap of $8.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.35.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 2.01% and a return on equity of 6.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. Mosaic’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Mosaic Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Mosaic from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho cut their target price on Mosaic from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.11.

Insider Activity at Mosaic

In other Mosaic news, Director Kelvin R. Westbrook sold 12,666 shares of Mosaic stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 34,359 shares in the company, valued at $938,687.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 39,748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $1,111,354.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,821,628.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kelvin R. Westbrook sold 12,666 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 34,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $938,687.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.