Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 80.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 196,733 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 786,530 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Mosaic worth $4,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mosaic by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,351,351 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $228,018,000 after purchasing an additional 178,844 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,368,596 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $82,800,000 after acquiring an additional 150,186 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in Mosaic by 40.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,279,200 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $87,817,000 after acquiring an additional 947,500 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 13.9% during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 2,939,404 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $78,717,000 after acquiring an additional 359,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Mosaic by 190.8% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,593,914 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $39,178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,812 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Mosaic Stock Performance

Shares of MOS stock traded up $0.98 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $28.18. 5,834,455 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,745,536. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Mosaic Company has a 52-week low of $22.48 and a 52-week high of $33.44.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Mosaic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Mosaic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 160.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays raised Mosaic from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Mosaic from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mosaic has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.64.

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.