Morgan Stanley Lowers Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Price Target to $30.00

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $30.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

MOS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho increased their price target on Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Mosaic from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.09.

Mosaic Stock Performance

Shares of MOS stock opened at $27.03 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Mosaic has a 52 week low of $23.56 and a 52 week high of $33.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.69 and a 200-day moving average of $26.72. The company has a market cap of $8.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.34.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.17 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 6.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mosaic will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Mosaic’s payout ratio is 74.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mosaic

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 34,964 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,010,000 after acquiring an additional 2,767 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Mosaic by 13.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 454,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,130,000 after purchasing an additional 52,846 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Mosaic by 22.0% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 112,664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,256,000 after purchasing an additional 20,333 shares during the period. Keene & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 25.8% in the second quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 12,280 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 2,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Mosaic by 34.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,337,124 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $183,155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628,850 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.