The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) Shares Sold by Live Oak Private Wealth LLC

Live Oak Private Wealth LLC lessened its stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 42.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,026 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 58,392 shares during the quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $1,942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 73,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,814,000 after acquiring an additional 24,281 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,218,410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,189,000 after purchasing an additional 986,812 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,269,494 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,997,000 after purchasing an additional 28,816 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its position in Mosaic by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 291,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,168,000 after purchasing an additional 73,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Mosaic in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,251,000. 77.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mosaic Price Performance

MOS stock opened at $26.47 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $26.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.67. The Mosaic Company has a 52-week low of $23.56 and a 52-week high of $33.44. The company has a market capitalization of $8.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.34. 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 (NYSE:MOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 6.00%. The company’s revenue was down 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays downgraded Mosaic from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.80.

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.