Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Reaches New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $23.56 and last traded at $23.82, with a volume of 392594 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MOS. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. CIBC began coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Mosaic in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mosaic currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.40.

Mosaic Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.93. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 6.00%. Mosaic’s revenue was down 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Mosaic Company will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. This is a boost from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Mosaic’s payout ratio is presently 77.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mosaic

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Mosaic by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 81,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,348,000 after purchasing an additional 11,887 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mosaic by 596.4% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 11,672 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 9,996 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 9.9% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 51,420 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,645 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new position in Mosaic during the second quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 19,712 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. 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.