CWA Asset Management Group LLC Makes New $765,000 Investment in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 31,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $765,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 131.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 38,894 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,124,000 after buying an additional 22,084 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Mosaic by 44.2% in the 3rd 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 lifted its position 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 buying an additional 28,816 shares during the last quarter. Herr Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Mosaic by 1,318.7% during the second quarter. Herr Investment Group LLC now owns 332,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,601,000 after buying an additional 308,792 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,251,000. 77.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mosaic Price Performance

Mosaic stock opened at $25.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Mosaic Company has a 12-month low of $23.56 and a 12-month high of $35.49.

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

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Mosaic’s payout ratio is currently 77.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MOS. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, CIBC started coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.