Bank of Montreal Can Trims Holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Bank of Montreal Can cut its position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 665,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 35,907 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.21% of Mosaic worth $17,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Mosaic by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 1.5% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 23,345 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC increased its stake in Mosaic by 23.2% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional lifted its position in Mosaic by 1.5% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 28,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $823,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE:MOS opened at $26.46 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a PE ratio of 23.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.35. The Mosaic Company has a 12 month low of $24.11 and a 12 month high of $38.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.24). Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 3.24%. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Mosaic Company will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Mosaic’s payout ratio is 74.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MOS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.22.

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.