AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Cuts Position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd decreased its position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,566,821 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 81,385 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned approximately 0.80% of Mosaic worth $68,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Mosaic by 6.9% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 26,535 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,707 shares in the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its holdings in Mosaic by 32.1% in the third quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 2,751,580 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $73,687,000 after purchasing an additional 668,347 shares in the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the third quarter worth $205,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 4.4% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 37,014 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $991,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 87.2% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 70,314 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,878,000 after acquiring an additional 32,745 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MOS. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays cut their target price on Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group cut their target price on Mosaic from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Mosaic from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mosaic currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.11.

Insider Transactions at Mosaic

In other news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 39,748 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $1,111,354.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,682 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,821,628.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 39,748 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $1,111,354.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,682 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,821,628.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelvin R. Westbrook sold 12,666 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.32, for a total value of $346,035.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,359 shares in the company, valued at $938,687.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

Mosaic Stock Performance

MOS stock traded down $0.41 during trading on Thursday, reaching $26.76. The stock had a trading volume of 3,312,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,339,582. The Mosaic Company has a 52 week low of $24.11 and a 52 week high of $38.30. The stock's 50 day moving average is $26.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $8.61 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.35.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.12). Mosaic had a net margin of 2.01% and a return on equity of 6.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Mosaic Company will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.74%.

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.