5 Biggest Agriculture Companies in the World

3. The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Market Capitalization as of March 23: $25.019 billion

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 46

Incorporated in 2004 and headquartered in Tampa, Florida, The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) operates via three segments – Phosphates, Potash, and Mosaic Fertilizantes. The company focuses its mining, extraction, and production activities on phosphates, potash, and nitrogen crop nutrition products.

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)’s full-year revenue for 2021 was $12.3 billion, up 42.34% year-over-year from its 2020 revenue of $8.6 billion. The net income also jumped from $666 million in 2020 to $1.6 billion in 2021. With a market cap of more than $25 billion, The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) is one of the leading global agriculture names. 

As fertilizer prices cross their 2008 peaks, The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) has been a top gainer on Wall Street. The stock has climbed roughly 50% amid the macro war backdrop. On March 15, Goldman Sachs analyst Adam Samuelson upgraded The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) to Buy from Neutral with an $83 price target.

According to the fourth quarter database of Insider Monkey, 46 hedge funds were bullish on The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS). Kerr Neilson’s Platinum Asset Management is a prominent shareholder of the company, with 3.8 million shares worth over $150 million. 

Here is what Ariel Focus Fund had to say about The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) in its Q3 2021 investor letter:

“Our third quarter contributors generally fit this “happy family” description. Mosaic Company is the largest contributor to performance this year as well as our biggest holding as we go to print. The company returned +12.20% in the quarter and +56.16% so far this year. We have long believed Mosaic is well positioned to help the world feed its 7 billion people with a better diet amid finite agricultural resources. The company’s nutrients, particularly phosphates and potash, are key to improving yields on the limited number of global acres devoted to farming. Mosaic believes up to 60% of the yield on many crops is determined by the appropriate application of nutrients. For this reason, the company has remained focused on expanding its leadership position in this core fertilizer business. For several years, this concentrated effort did not show results. But in 2021, Mosaic’s focus began to pay off. Strong U.S. crop prices as well as growing transportation costs for imported fertilizer from overseas mines have led to improved earnings expectations. Last December, analysts showed a mean estimate for Mosaic 2021 EPS of $1.43. Today, those same analysts expect the company to earn $4.67! Estimates for 2022 EPS have also increased dramatically from $2.10 as of December 2020 to $4.99 today. We believe Mosaic will also continue to benefit from global inflation.”