Barclays Upgrades Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) to “Overweight”

Barclays upgraded shares of Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $33.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $27.00.

MOS has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Mosaic from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. CIBC assumed coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Mosaic in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.67.

Mosaic Stock Performance

NYSE:MOS opened at $27.83 on Wednesday. Mosaic has a twelve month low of $22.48 and a twelve month high of $33.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.63, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.17.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 160.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mosaic

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Mosaic during the 3rd quarter valued at $244,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Mosaic by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 54,721 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 3,301 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 3rd quarter valued at about $299,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 190,195 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,093,000 after purchasing an additional 14,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its stake in Mosaic by 67.2% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 79,014 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,117,000 after purchasing an additional 31,766 shares during the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.