Mosaic Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:MOS)

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 25,438 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 161% compared to the typical daily volume of 9,734 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised shares of Mosaic from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Mosaic from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays upgraded Mosaic from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Mosaic from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $26.00 to $29.00 in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Mosaic in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mosaic presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.67.

Mosaic Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MOS opened at $28.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Mosaic has a one year low of $22.48 and a one year high of $33.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.00 billion, a PE ratio of 25.13, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 160.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MOS. Intellectus Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mosaic by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 12,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 92,550 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,275,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Mosaic by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 8,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Mosaic by 1.8% in 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. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in Mosaic by 110.8% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.