Compass Minerals International, Inc. $CMP Stake Cut by SailingStone Capital Partners LLC

SailingStone Capital Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) by 30.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,351,366 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,474,245 shares during the quarter. Compass Minerals International comprises about 20.1% of SailingStone Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC owned about 7.98% of Compass Minerals International worth $104,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 18.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 913,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,333,000 after acquiring an additional 140,918 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Compass Minerals International by 994.4% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 172,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,037,000 after purchasing an additional 157,111 shares in the last quarter. Irenic Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Compass Minerals International in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,520,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Compass Minerals International in the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,755,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 692.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,253,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,987 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CMP. Compass Point set a $27.00 price target on shares of Compass Minerals International in a report on Monday, August 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Compass Minerals International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $27.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of Compass Minerals International in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Compass Minerals International from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Compass Minerals International currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Compass Minerals International Price Performance

CMP stock opened at $25.68 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 59.71 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.13. Compass Minerals International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.40 and a 12-month high of $34.50.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.08). Compass Minerals International had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 1.42%.The firm had revenue of $215.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.39) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Compass Minerals International, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Compass Minerals International 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.