Range Financial Group LLC Invests $1.15 Million in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 46,713 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,148,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 180,900.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,809 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Mosaic by 46.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Mosaic by 23.2% during 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 period. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Mosaic by 85.2% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,189 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mosaic Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:MOS traded down $0.14 on Tuesday, hitting $25.25. 4,964,878 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,372,444. The company 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.86. 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 Mosaic Company has a 52 week low of $23.56 and a 52 week high of $35.49.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.17 billion. Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 3.24%. The business's revenue was down 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. 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 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio is 77.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. CIBC assumed coverage on shares of Mosaic in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.40.

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.