Morgan Stanley Cuts Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Price Target to $28.00

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) had its target price trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $35.00 to $28.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Mosaic from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on shares of Mosaic from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Mosaic from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce dropped their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Mosaic from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mosaic currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.00.

Mosaic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MOS opened at $27.79 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $8.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.97. Mosaic has a 52 week low of $22.36 and a 52 week high of $38.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $27.21 and its 200-day moving average is $28.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 4.49% and a return on equity of 5.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Mosaic will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Mosaic’s payout ratio is 52.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Mosaic by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 41,663 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after acquiring an additional 7,555 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,260,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,840,398 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,235,000 after purchasing an additional 2,653,969 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Mosaic by 247.8% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 50,271 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 35,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in Mosaic by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 56,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after buying an additional 13,762 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Company Profile

Mosaic Co is one of the world’s leading producers and marketers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. The company’s primary business activities center on the extraction, processing and distribution of phosphate rock, phosphate-based fertilizers and potash products. These core nutrients are essential components in modern agriculture, supporting crop yields and soil health across a range of farming applications.

In its phosphate segment, Mosaic operates mining and production facilities that convert phosphate rock into concentrated phosphates, finished phosphate fertilizers and feed phosphates for animal nutrition.