The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) Shares Sold by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 715 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MOS. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 73,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,814,000 after purchasing an additional 24,281 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Mosaic by 44.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,218,410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,189,000 after purchasing an additional 986,812 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Mosaic by 2.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,269,494 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,997,000 after buying an additional 28,816 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in Mosaic by 33.8% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 291,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,168,000 after buying an additional 73,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Mosaic in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,251,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of MOS opened at $25.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The Mosaic Company has a 12 month low of $22.48 and a 12 month high of $33.44. The stock has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.21.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 160.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MOS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Mosaic in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Mosaic from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $26.00 to $29.00 in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mosaic has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.64.

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.