Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Sunday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Compass Minerals International from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Compass Point set a $30.00 price target on shares of Compass Minerals International in a report on Thursday, May 14th. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Compass Minerals International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.80.

Compass Minerals International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CMP opened at $29.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $29.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.41. Compass Minerals International has a 52-week low of $16.40 and a 52-week high of $34.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 199.43 and a beta of 1.24.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $453.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $418.97 million. Compass Minerals International had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 0.55%.Compass Minerals International’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Compass Minerals International will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Compass Minerals International

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMP. Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its position in Compass Minerals International by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 36,832 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 5.2% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 13,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in shares of Compass Minerals International by 80.0% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

Compass Minerals International Company 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.