Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) Stock Rating Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on MTX. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Minerals Technologies from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Minerals Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Minerals Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $90.00.

Minerals Technologies Stock Performance

Minerals Technologies stock opened at $63.69 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.82. The company has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Minerals Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $53.94 and a fifty-two week high of $84.34.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $548.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $558.77 million. Minerals Technologies had a negative net margin of 3.13% and a positive return on equity of 10.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Minerals Technologies will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Minerals Technologies in the second quarter worth $361,721,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Minerals Technologies in the second quarter worth about $22,401,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Minerals Technologies in the second quarter worth about $20,237,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 212.0% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 125,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,905,000 after buying an additional 85,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Minerals Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,140,000. Institutional investors own 97.29% of the company’s stock.

Minerals Technologies Company Profile

Minerals Technologies Inc (NYSE: MTX) is a global specialty minerals and materials company that develops, produces and markets engineered mineral products and related technologies. Its products are used by manufacturers in the paper, packaging, construction, food, pharmaceutical, agriculture, energy and other industrial markets.

The company’s Specialty Minerals businesses produce precipitated calcium carbonate, which is used as a paper filler and coating pigment, as well as mineral-based products for construction materials, automotive components, polymers, paints, coatings, food and other applications.