Royal Bank Of Canada Downgrades Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) to Sector Perform

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) was downgraded by Royal Bank Of Canada from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $25.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $27.00. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 25.13% from the company’s current price.

MOS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of Mosaic from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Mizuho set a $25.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mosaic has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.06.

Mosaic Stock Performance

NYSE MOS traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $19.98. The company had a trading volume of 8,100,260 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,729,052. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.34. Mosaic has a 1-year low of $19.80 and a 1-year high of $36.00. The company has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a PE ratio of -9.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.57 and a 200-day moving average of $23.25.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. Mosaic had a negative net margin of 5.21% and a positive return on equity of 3.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mosaic will post 0.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Mosaic

In other Mosaic news, SVP Walter Precourt, III sold 23,000 shares of Mosaic stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.12, for a total transaction of $508,760.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 116,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,570,299.76. The trade was a 16.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mosaic

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MOS. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Mosaic by 10.2% during the third quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 61,736 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,337,000 after buying an additional 5,724 shares during the period. CX Institutional increased its position in shares of Mosaic by 35.9% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 6,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Mosaic by 57.0% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,770 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Mosaic by 11.9% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 79,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 8,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Core Capital Management & Research inc. bought a new position in shares of Mosaic in the second quarter worth approximately $2,741,000. 77.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mosaic Company Profile

The Mosaic Company is a global producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. Its products are used by farmers to support plant growth, improve yields and replenish essential nutrients in agricultural soils. Mosaic also produces phosphate-based animal feed ingredients and other crop nutrition products.

Mosaic operates an integrated business that includes mining, processing, manufacturing and distribution. Its phosphate operations are primarily located in the United States, while its potash operations include mining assets in Canada and the United States.