Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Stock Price

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) had its target price trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $29.00 to $26.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. CIBC started coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Barclays downgraded Mosaic from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Mosaic from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Monday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.70.

Mosaic Stock Performance

MOS opened at $24.18 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Mosaic has a 1-year low of $22.48 and a 1-year high of $33.44. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.34.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Mosaic’s payout ratio is 160.00%.

Institutional Trading of Mosaic

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MOS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mosaic during the 4th quarter valued at $97,363,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Mosaic by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,507,131 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $332,005,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,243 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Mosaic by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,041,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $271,382,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151,426 shares during the period. Criteria Caixa S.A.U. acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth $36,231,000. Finally, Covalis Capital LLP acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth $27,031,000. 77.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.