Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 83,269 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 11.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 638,044 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 83,269 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of Mosaic worth $17,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highlander Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 515.4% during the first quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 800 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Mosaic by 40.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,229 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new stake in Mosaic in the second quarter worth $46,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Mosaic in the second quarter worth $49,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Mosaic Stock Performance

Shares of Mosaic stock traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $25.81. 3,065,177 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,344,867. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.35. The Mosaic Company has a one year low of $24.11 and a one year high of $38.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Mosaic's payout ratio is 74.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MOS. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Mizuho raised their price target on Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective 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 reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.22.

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.