Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Grows Holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 84.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,083,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 955,199 shares during the period. Mosaic accounts for 1.5% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $60,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MOS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Mosaic by 1,815.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,682,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $346,743,000 after acquiring an additional 10,124,427 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Mosaic in the 4th quarter worth about $107,893,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Mosaic by 5.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,357,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,277,536,000 after buying an additional 1,893,797 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Mosaic by 34.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,337,124 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $183,155,000 after buying an additional 1,628,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in Mosaic by 1,795.5% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,279,022 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,496,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211,544 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MOS opened at $26.39 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.86 and a 200 day moving average of $29.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.36. The Mosaic Company has a 12 month low of $24.11 and a 12 month high of $40.58.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.12). Mosaic had a net margin of 2.01% and a return on equity of 6.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Mosaic’s payout ratio is currently 35.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MOS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays dropped their price target on Mosaic from $39.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Mosaic from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mosaic has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.33.

Insider Activity

In other Mosaic news, Director Kelvin R. Westbrook sold 12,666 shares of Mosaic stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,359 shares in the company, valued at $938,687.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 39,748 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $1,111,354.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,821,628.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelvin R. Westbrook sold 12,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.32, for a total value of $346,035.12. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $938,687.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

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.