Traders Purchase Large Volume of Compass Minerals International Call Options (NYSE:CMP)

Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 5,029 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 542% compared to the typical daily volume of 783 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on CMP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Compass Minerals International Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE CMP traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $10.96. The stock had a trading volume of 264,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 790,385. Compass Minerals International has a 52-week low of $7.51 and a 52-week high of $15.82. The firm has a market cap of $454.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.77 and a beta of 1.17. The business's fifty day moving average price is $10.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The basic materials company reported ($0.55) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.50). Compass Minerals International had a negative net margin of 15.10% and a negative return on equity of 10.00%. Analysts expect that Compass Minerals International will post -0.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Compass Minerals International

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMP. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Compass Minerals International by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 89,357 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 1,764 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Compass Minerals International during the third quarter worth about $296,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Compass Minerals International during the 3rd quarter worth about $415,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Compass Minerals International by 76.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 92,803 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,116,000 after buying an additional 40,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 782,811 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,412,000 after buying an additional 6,062 shares during the last quarter. 99.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Compass Minerals International

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.