Freedom Capital Upgrades Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) to “Strong-Buy”

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) was upgraded by analysts at Freedom Capital from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Mosaic from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $31.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Berenberg Bank cut their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $27.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.41.

Mosaic Trading Up 3.4%

MOS stock opened at $22.43 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Mosaic has a twelve month low of $19.80 and a twelve month high of $38.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 172.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.33.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The basic materials company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.15). Mosaic had a net margin of 0.36% and a return on equity of 4.66%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mosaic will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Mosaic

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MOS. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 27.8% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,749 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the first quarter valued at $201,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 170.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 54,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 34,151 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,836 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 7,760 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 169.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 956 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mosaic Company Profile

Mosaic Co is one of the world’s leading producers and marketers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. The company’s primary business activities center on the extraction, processing and distribution of phosphate rock, phosphate-based fertilizers and potash products. These core nutrients are essential components in modern agriculture, supporting crop yields and soil health across a range of farming applications.

In its phosphate segment, Mosaic operates mining and production facilities that convert phosphate rock into concentrated phosphates, finished phosphate fertilizers and feed phosphates for animal nutrition.