Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd Acquires New Holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 78,448 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,928,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 110.8% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Tobam acquired a new stake in Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mosaic in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Mosaic by 180,900.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of MOS stock opened at $27.95 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.41 and a 200 day moving average of $26.16. 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 stock has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The Mosaic Company has a twelve month low of $22.48 and a twelve month high of $33.44.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 160.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MOS. Mizuho lowered their price target on Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Mosaic from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Mosaic from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.64.

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.