Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) Upgraded to “Neutral” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $30.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $20.00.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Compass Minerals International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Compass Minerals International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Compass Point set a $30.00 price target on shares of Compass Minerals International in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

Compass Minerals International Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of CMP opened at $30.12 on Thursday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $24.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.28. Compass Minerals International has a twelve month low of $16.40 and a twelve month high of $32.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 200.79 and a beta of 1.18.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $453.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $418.97 million. Compass Minerals International had a net margin of 0.55% and a return on equity of 8.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Compass Minerals International will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Compass Minerals International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 36,832 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $723,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its stake in Compass Minerals International by 80.0% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Compass Minerals International by 4.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,665 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Compass Minerals International by 94.4% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Compass Minerals International by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 26,692 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

About Compass Minerals International

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.