Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Invests $3.36 Million in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 136,850 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,364,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Mosaic by 1.5% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 23,345 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Mosaic by 46.4% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 32,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $799,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 110.8% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 9,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MOS shares. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Mosaic from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.80.

Mosaic Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of MOS stock opened at $25.33 on Tuesday. The Mosaic Company has a 12-month low of $23.56 and a 12-month high of $33.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $26.19 and its 200 day moving average is $26.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.88%.

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.