Ellsworth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 25.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 8,842 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $1,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,776,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Mosaic by 1,007.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 241,245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,620,000 after buying an additional 219,463 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,610,000. Duality Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Mosaic by 523.0% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 216,388 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,024,000 after acquiring an additional 181,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 1,815.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,682,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $346,743,000 after acquiring an additional 10,124,427 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on MOS shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on 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, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mosaic

In related news, Director Kelvin R. Westbrook sold 12,666 shares of Mosaic stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.32, for a total transaction of $346,035.12. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $938,687.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 39,748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total transaction of $1,111,354.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,821,628.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelvin R. Westbrook sold 12,666 shares of Mosaic stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.32, for a total transaction of $346,035.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $938,687.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mosaic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MOS opened at $25.97 on Friday. The Mosaic Company has a one year low of $24.11 and a one year high of $38.30. The stock has a market cap of $8.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $26.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.92% and a net margin of 2.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.04 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.74%.

Mosaic 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.