Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,060 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $1,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MOS. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Mosaic by 1.5% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 23,345 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Mosaic in the third quarter worth approximately $357,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Mosaic in the third quarter worth approximately $244,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Mosaic by 85.2% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,189 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in Mosaic by 19.5% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 29,003 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 4,740 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of Mosaic stock opened at $25.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.19. The Mosaic Company has a one year low of $22.48 and a one year high of $33.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $26.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.19.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. This is an increase from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 160.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MOS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Mosaic from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.64.

About Mosaic

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.