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

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CMP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Compass Minerals International from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Compass Minerals International from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th.

Compass Minerals International Stock Performance

CMP traded down $0.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $18.98. The stock had a trading volume of 56,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 674,867. The firm has a market cap of $787.54 million, a PE ratio of -4.80 and a beta of 0.95. Compass Minerals International has a 12 month low of $7.51 and a 12 month high of $20.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.49.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.24. Compass Minerals International had a negative return on equity of 10.00% and a negative net margin of 15.10%. The company had revenue of $494.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $413.96 million. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Compass Minerals International will post -0.53 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Compass Minerals International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMP. Koch Inc. acquired a new position in Compass Minerals International during the 4th quarter valued at about $79,139,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 642.5% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,058,551 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $11,909,000 after buying an additional 915,983 shares during the last quarter. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,427,142 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $61,055,000 after buying an additional 652,129 shares during the period. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. bought a new position in Compass Minerals International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,394,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Compass Minerals International during the 1st quarter worth $4,279,000. 99.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Compass Minerals International Company Profile

Compass Minerals International, Inc, provides essential minerals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Salt and Plant Nutrition. The Salt segment produces, markets, and sells sodium chloride and magnesium chloride, including rock salt, mechanically and solar evaporated salt, and brine and flake magnesium chloride products; and purchases potassium chloride and calcium chloride to sell as finished products or to blend with sodium chloride to produce specialty products.

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