Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 26,411 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 863,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 26,411 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.27% of Mosaic worth $21,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 1.5% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 23,345 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 5.1% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 8,764 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 46.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 32,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $799,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 110.8% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 587 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mosaic Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MOS opened at $26.54 on Friday. 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 52-week low of $23.56 and a 52-week high of $33.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $26.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.57. The stock has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced 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). Mosaic had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 6.00%. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is 77.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MOS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Mosaic from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. CIBC initiated coverage on shares of Mosaic in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.80.

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.