Morgan Stanley Cuts Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) Price Target to $30.00

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $30.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 13.16% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on MOS. CIBC started coverage on Mosaic in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Mosaic from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Mosaic in a report 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.09.

Mosaic Stock Up 6.8 %

MOS stock traded up $1.68 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $26.51. 3,047,733 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,769,993. The company has a market cap of $8.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.19. Mosaic has a 1-year low of $23.56 and a 1-year high of $33.44. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.75.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.24). Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 3.24%. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. Mosaic’s revenue was down 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mosaic will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mosaic

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Mosaic by 131.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 38,894 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after buying an additional 22,084 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,218,410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $86,189,000 after acquiring an additional 986,812 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Mosaic by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,269,494 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,997,000 after purchasing an additional 28,816 shares in the last quarter. Herr Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Mosaic by 1,318.7% during the second quarter. Herr Investment Group LLC now owns 332,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,601,000 after purchasing an additional 308,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Mosaic during the third quarter worth $1,251,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

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.