The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,940,000 shares, an increase of 36.1% from the March 31st total of 5,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,790,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MOS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Mosaic from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho cut Mosaic from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Piper Sandler lowered Mosaic from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Mosaic from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.27.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MOS. Denali Advisors LLC grew its position in Mosaic by 100.5% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 826 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mosaic by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 526.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Mosaic during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Trading Up 2.0 %

Mosaic stock opened at $30.87 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $31.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Mosaic has a 12 month low of $29.25 and a 12 month high of $43.99. The stock has a market cap of $9.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.50.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by ($0.11). Mosaic had a net margin of 8.51% and a return on equity of 9.69%. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mosaic will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.07%.

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.