Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Share Price Crosses Above 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.75 and traded as high as $22.50. Mosaic shares last traded at $22.3250, with a volume of 19,121,421 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Mosaic from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Freedom Broker raised shares of Mosaic from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $17.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.68.

Mosaic Stock Up 3.3%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $7.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.31, a PEG ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.88.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The basic materials company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Mosaic had a positive return on equity of 0.58% and a negative net margin of 9.43%. The business’s revenue was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Mosaic Company will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Mosaic’s payout ratio is presently -24.86%.

Insider Transactions at Mosaic

In related news, SVP Walter Precourt, III sold 23,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.12, for a total value of $508,760.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 116,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,570,299.76. This trade represents a 16.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mosaic

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MOS. Fortress Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mosaic in the 2nd quarter valued at $269,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Essential Partners LLC boosted its position in Mosaic by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 3,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in Mosaic by 1,575.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 3,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 3,404 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is currently 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 help farmers supply crops with essential nutrients, including phosphorus and potassium, and are sold under brands such as MicroEssentials, Aspire and K-Mag.

Mosaic operates an integrated fertilizer business that includes phosphate rock mining, processing and manufacturing, as well as potash mining and production. The company also produces animal feed ingredients and other products derived from phosphate operations.