Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $28.80.

CMP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Compass Minerals International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Compass Minerals International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Compass Minerals International from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Compass Point set a $30.00 price target on Compass Minerals International in a research note on Thursday, May 14th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Compass Minerals International by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 593,887 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,664,000 after buying an additional 23,860 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Compass Minerals International during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,012,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Compass Minerals International by 35.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,236,884 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,748,000 after purchasing an additional 320,796 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 105.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 45,228 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $888,000 after buying an additional 23,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aristeia Capital L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Compass Minerals International by 87.7% during the fourth quarter. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. now owns 56,439 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 26,371 shares during the last quarter. 99.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Compass Minerals International Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:CMP opened at $29.91 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 199.43 and a beta of 1.24. Compass Minerals International has a 1-year low of $16.40 and a 1-year high of $34.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $29.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.41.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $453.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $418.97 million. Compass Minerals International had a net margin of 0.55% and a return on equity of 8.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Compass Minerals International will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Compass Minerals International Company Profile

Compass Minerals International, Inc is a global producer of essential mineral-based products, primarily known for its salt and plant nutrition portfolios. The company’s deicing salts are used by municipalities and commercial customers across North America to maintain safer roadways in winter months. In addition, its water conditioning salts serve both residential and industrial users, supporting water treatment systems that remove hard minerals to protect plumbing and equipment.

Beyond conventional salt products, Compass Minerals has developed a specialty plant nutrition business focused on sulfate of potash (SOP), a premium fertilizer that provides both potassium and sulfur to crops.