Oak Thistle LLC Makes New $640,000 Investment in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 26,046 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $640,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mosaic by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,127 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 4,495 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Mosaic by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 68,872 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,963 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Mosaic during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,148,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $765,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,444 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 1,946 shares in the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mosaic Price Performance

NYSE:MOS opened at $27.03 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.34. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.72. The Mosaic Company has a 1 year low of $23.56 and a 1 year high of $33.44.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). Mosaic had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 6.00%. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 3.26%. This is an increase from Mosaic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MOS. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.09.

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.