Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) Upgraded to “Buy” at Loop Capital

Loop Capital upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $23.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $26.00.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CMP. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Compass Minerals International from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Compass Minerals International from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $33.80.

Compass Minerals International Trading Up 2.3 %

CMP stock opened at $13.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 3.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.63. Compass Minerals International has a 52 week low of $11.85 and a 52 week high of $39.78. The company has a market capitalization of $551.08 million, a PE ratio of -9.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.13.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.19). Compass Minerals International had a negative net margin of 4.97% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business had revenue of $341.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.84 million. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Compass Minerals International will post 0.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Compass Minerals International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. Compass Minerals International’s payout ratio is -41.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Compass Minerals International

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMP. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Compass Minerals International by 89.2% in the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 1,352,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,333,000 after acquiring an additional 637,883 shares during the last quarter. Shapiro Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Compass Minerals International by 17.9% in the third quarter. Shapiro Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,740,000 after acquiring an additional 193,725 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Compass Minerals International by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,246,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,572,000 after acquiring an additional 172,018 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Compass Minerals International by 105.8% in the fourth quarter. Magnolia Group LLC now owns 849,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,509,000 after acquiring an additional 436,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Compass Minerals International by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 549,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,913,000 after acquiring an additional 34,193 shares during the last quarter. 99.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Compass Minerals International

Compass Minerals International, Inc, provides essential minerals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Salt and Plant Nutrition. The Salt segment produces, markets, and sells sodium chloride and magnesium chloride, including rock salt, mechanically and solar evaporated salt, and brine and flake magnesium chloride products; and purchases potassium chloride and calcium chloride to sell as finished products or to blend with sodium chloride to produce specialty products.