Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Cut to Underweight at Barclays

Barclays downgraded shares of Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) from an overweight rating to an underweight rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Barclays currently has $27.00 price objective on the basic materials company's stock, down from their previous price objective of $30.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler upgraded Mosaic from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $26.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, CIBC initiated coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.82.

Mosaic Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Mosaic stock traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $27.00. 2,630,413 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,738,031. The company has a market cap of $8.58 billion, a PE ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.63 and a 200-day moving average of $26.69. Mosaic has a 12 month low of $23.56 and a 12 month high of $33.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $2.81 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was down 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mosaic will post 2.06 EPS 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 is a positive change from Mosaic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Mosaic's payout ratio is presently 74.34%.

Institutional Trading of Mosaic

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 84.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 21,444 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 9,805 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Mosaic in the 4th quarter worth approximately $326,000. Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mosaic during the 4th quarter valued at $221,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 110.8% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 587 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 21,038 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $517,000 after buying an additional 2,008 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.