First Trust Advisors LP Has $1.76 Million Stake in Minerals Technologies Inc. $MTX

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its position in shares of Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) by 91.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,821 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 253,795 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.08% of Minerals Technologies worth $1,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MTX. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Minerals Technologies by 626.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 36.0% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 552 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Minerals Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Minerals Technologies in the third quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Minerals Technologies in the first quarter worth $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Timothy Jordan sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.27, for a total value of $481,620.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,665.33. This represents a 82.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MTX. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Minerals Technologies from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating on shares of Minerals Technologies in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Minerals Technologies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Minerals Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.00.

Minerals Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:MTX opened at $75.15 on Friday. Minerals Technologies Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.94 and a 1-year high of $84.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a PE ratio of -34.63 and a beta of 1.14.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $548.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $558.77 million. Minerals Technologies had a positive return on equity of 10.63% and a negative net margin of 3.13%.The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Minerals Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Minerals Technologies’s payout ratio is currently -22.12%.

Minerals Technologies Profile

Minerals Technologies Inc develops, produces and processes a broad range of mineral-based products and solutions that serve a variety of industrial applications. Its offerings include bentonite, perlite, precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), mineral sands, foundry additives, performance minerals and specialty chemicals designed to enhance performance in markets such as paper, steel, construction, oil and gas, environmental remediation and consumer products.

The company operates through several business segments, including Specialty Minerals, Refractory Minerals, Performance Materials and Recycled Materials.