Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Grows Position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 32.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,751,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 668,347 shares during the quarter. Mosaic makes up 1.7% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned 0.86% of Mosaic worth $73,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highlander Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 515.4% during the first quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Mosaic by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the second quarter worth about $46,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mosaic during the second quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Mosaic in the 1st quarter valued at $50,000. 77.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MOS shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Mosaic from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Mosaic from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Mosaic from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mosaic presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mosaic news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 39,748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $1,111,354.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,821,628.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Kelvin R. Westbrook sold 12,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.32, for a total transaction of $346,035.12. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $938,687.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 39,748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $1,111,354.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,682 shares in the company, valued at $3,821,628.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mosaic Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MOS traded up $0.53 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.22. The stock had a trading volume of 507,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,332,379. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.19. The Mosaic Company has a fifty-two week low of $24.11 and a fifty-two week high of $38.30.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 2.01% and a return on equity of 6.92%. The company’s revenue was down 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Mosaic Company will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. Mosaic’s payout ratio is 35.74%.

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.