Mosaic Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:MOS)

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 19,587 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 92% compared to the typical volume of 10,216 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mosaic

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in Mosaic by 110.8% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Tobam bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mosaic during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mosaic Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of MOS stock traded up $1.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $25.23. 1,888,197 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,558,034. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Mosaic has a 12-month low of $22.36 and a 12-month high of $32.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $25.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.14.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. Mosaic’s payout ratio is 160.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MOS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Mosaic to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho decreased their target price on Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays raised Mosaic from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $27.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Mosaic from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Mosaic from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mosaic has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.58.

Mosaic Company 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.