The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) Shares Acquired by CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 319.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 825,046 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 628,251 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.26% of Mosaic worth $20,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 73,807 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,814,000 after purchasing an additional 24,281 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mosaic by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,368,596 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $82,800,000 after acquiring an additional 150,186 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 33.8% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 291,605 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $7,168,000 after acquiring an additional 73,653 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,387,332 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,101,000 after acquiring an additional 117,838 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth $1,054,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised shares of Mosaic from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Mosaic in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Barclays upgraded Mosaic from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Mosaic to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.42.

Mosaic Price Performance

NYSE:MOS traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $28.91. 6,138,935 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,624,928. The company has a market cap of $9.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $25.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.16. The Mosaic Company has a 52-week low of $22.36 and a 52-week high of $32.29. 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 160.00%.

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.