ING Groep NV Sells 649 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

ING Groep NV lessened its holdings in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 373,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 649 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $9,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Mosaic by 44.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,218,410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,189,000 after purchasing an additional 986,812 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in Mosaic by 40.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,279,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,817,000 after purchasing an additional 947,500 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 32.1% in the third quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 2,751,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $73,687,000 after acquiring an additional 668,347 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 13.9% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 2,939,404 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $78,717,000 after acquiring an additional 359,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mosaic by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,351,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $228,018,000 after acquiring an additional 178,844 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Mosaic Price Performance

Shares of MOS opened at $25.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.51. The Mosaic Company has a 52-week low of $23.56 and a 52-week high of $33.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.34.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Mosaic’s payout ratio is currently 74.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MOS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays downgraded shares of Mosaic from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.80.

Mosaic 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.