Confluence Investment Management LLC Buys 863 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,527 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 863 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MOS. Quarry LP lifted its position in Mosaic by 131.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 38,894 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 22,084 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Mosaic by 44.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,218,410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,189,000 after buying an additional 986,812 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Mosaic by 2.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,269,494 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,997,000 after acquiring an additional 28,816 shares during the last quarter. Herr Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Mosaic by 1,318.7% during the 2nd quarter. Herr Investment Group LLC now owns 332,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,601,000 after acquiring an additional 308,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,251,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Stock Performance

Shares of Mosaic stock opened at $25.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.34. The Mosaic Company has a one year low of $23.56 and a one year high of $37.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $25.96 and its 200-day moving average is $26.88.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.24). Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 3.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Mosaic Company will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Mosaic’s payout ratio is presently 77.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MOS shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, November 14th. CIBC initiated coverage on shares of Mosaic in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.40.

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.