Franklin Resources Inc. Has $6.08 Million Position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 247,453 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 52,885 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.08% of Mosaic worth $6,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Mosaic by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 73,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,814,000 after buying an additional 24,281 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Mosaic by 4.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its position in Mosaic by 33.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,387,332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,101,000 after purchasing an additional 117,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 59.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,682 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MOS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Mosaic from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Mosaic from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $26.00 to $29.00 in a report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Mosaic in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Mosaic from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.58.

Mosaic Stock Up 8.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MOS opened at $24.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Mosaic Company has a 12-month low of $22.36 and a 12-month high of $33.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.15.

Mosaic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 160.00%.

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.