Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 3,961,081 The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Norges Bank bought a new position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 3,961,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,363,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Mosaic by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,351,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $228,018,000 after purchasing an additional 178,844 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,368,596 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $82,800,000 after buying an additional 150,186 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in Mosaic by 40.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,279,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,817,000 after buying an additional 947,500 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Mosaic by 190.8% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,593,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,178,000 after buying an additional 1,045,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in Mosaic by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,387,332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,101,000 after acquiring an additional 117,838 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mosaic Price Performance

MOS stock opened at $26.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.57 and a 200-day moving average of $26.24. 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 has a market capitalization of $8.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The Mosaic Company has a 12 month low of $22.48 and a 12 month high of $33.44.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Mosaic’s payout ratio is currently 160.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MOS shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Mosaic from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Mosaic from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer upgraded Mosaic from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Mosaic from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $29.00 in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, CIBC started coverage on Mosaic in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.67.

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.