Is it a Smart Move to Keep Your Mosaic Company (MOS) Stake?

Ariel Investments, an investment management firm, published its “Ariel Focus Fund” fourth quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. Ariel Focus Fund gained +4.95% in the fourth quarter trailing the Russell 1000 Value Index which increased +7.77% and the S&P 500 Index which gained +11.03%. For the full year 2021, Ariel Focus Fund posted a strong absolute return of +21.15% but trailed both the Russell 1000 Value Index and the S&P 500 which rose +25.16% and +28.71%, respectively Spare some time to check the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a clue about their top bets for 2022.

Ariel Investments, in its Q4 2021 investor letter, mentioned The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) and discussed its stance on the firm. Founded in 2004, The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) is a Tampa, Florida-based mining company with a $24.7 billion market capitalization, and is currently spearheaded by its CEO, James C. O’Rourke. The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) delivered a 71.04% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 119.90%. The stock closed at $67.20 per share on March 21, 2022.

Here is what Ariel Investments has to say about The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“We continue to believe recent aggressive fiscal and monetary policy will drive high levels of intransient (rather than transitory) inflation. Recent inflation numbers have exceeded our hawkish predictions. While we believed the Consumer Price Index might rise +4% in 2021, double the Fed target of +2%; it rose +7%, the highest level in forty years. Ariel Focus Fund has been well positioned for this environment as natural resource and material companies such as The Mosaic Company (MOS) which returned +72.15% for the year. This was one of our two largest holdings at year-end and have performed well very early into 2022.”

Image by Tshekiso Tebalo from Pixabay

Our calculations show that The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) failed to obtain a mark on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) was in 46 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 40 funds in the previous quarter. The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) delivered a 80.02% return in the past 3 months.

In December 2021, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) in another article. You can find other letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2021 Q4 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.