Caprock Group LLC Sells 16,307 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Caprock Group LLC reduced its position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 64.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,053 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 16,307 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC's holdings in Mosaic were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MOS. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 110.8% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Mosaic during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 46.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 180,900.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809 shares during the period. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 23.2% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mosaic Stock Performance

Mosaic stock traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $27.43. The stock had a trading volume of 3,747,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,879,216. 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 52-week low of $23.56 and a 52-week high of $33.44. The company has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The firm's fifty day moving average is $26.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.62.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.17 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 6.00%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio is 77.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MOS shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho raised their price target on Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Barclays cut Mosaic from an "overweight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, CIBC assumed coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.80.

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.