Koch Inc. Makes New Investment in Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP)

Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,034,609 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $79,139,000. Compass Minerals International comprises about 12.6% of Koch Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Koch Inc. owned about 16.95% of Compass Minerals International at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC boosted 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 worth $61,055,000 after purchasing an additional 652,129 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 642.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 915,983 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 785,676 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,842,000 after purchasing an additional 2,865 shares during the period. Michelson Medical Research Foundation Inc. boosted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Michelson Medical Research Foundation Inc. now owns 600,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,750,000 after purchasing an additional 95,000 shares during the period. Finally, Lightrock Netherlands B.V. acquired a new position in shares of Compass Minerals International during the fourth quarter valued at $6,394,000. Institutional investors own 99.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CMP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Compass Minerals International from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th.

Compass Minerals International Price Performance

CMP stock traded down $0.25 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $19.90. The company had a trading volume of 574,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 819,732. The firm has a market capitalization of $825.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.04 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average of $13.54 and a 200 day moving average of $12.71. Compass Minerals International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.51 and a fifty-two week high of $20.75. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $494.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $413.96 million. Compass Minerals International had a negative net margin of 15.10% and a negative return on equity of 10.00%. The business's revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Compass Minerals International, Inc. will post -0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

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.