Mosaic Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:MOS)

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 14,502 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 50% compared to the typical daily volume of 9,672 call options.

Mosaic Stock Performance

NYSE MOS traded up $0.38 on Friday, reaching $25.10. 6,437,629 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,817,999. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.95 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. Mosaic has a one year low of $22.48 and a one year high of $33.44. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $26.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Mosaic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Mosaic's payout ratio is 160.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MOS. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Mosaic from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Mosaic from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. CIBC initiated coverage on Mosaic in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Barclays upgraded Mosaic from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.70.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mosaic

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,507,131 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $332,005,000 after acquiring an additional 3,058,243 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Mosaic by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,041,218 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $271,382,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151,426 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Mosaic by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,621,001 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $218,751,000 after buying an additional 269,650 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Mosaic by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,171,642 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $127,119,000 after buying an additional 287,493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,990,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $98,086,000 after buying an additional 711,300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Mosaic Company 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.