Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Decreases Position in Minerals Technologies Inc. $MTX

Key Points

• Gamco Investors cut its stake in Minerals Technologies by 7.8% in the first quarter, selling 21,614 shares and leaving it with 254,500 shares worth about $18.0 million.
• Minerals Technologies reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, posting $1.38 EPS versus the $1.26 consensus and revenue of $546.9 million, up 11.2% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, while analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $90.00.

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL decreased its holdings in Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX - Free Report) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 254,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 21,614 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned about 0.82% of Minerals Technologies worth $18,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTX. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Minerals Technologies by 626.8% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 36.0% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 552 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Minerals Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Minerals Technologies during the third quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Minerals Technologies during the first quarter valued at about $70,000. 97.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Minerals Technologies Stock Up 1.8%

MTX stock opened at $74.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 1.15. Minerals Technologies Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.94 and a 12 month high of $84.34. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $75.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $546.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $516.39 million. Minerals Technologies had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 10.40%. The firm's revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 6.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Minerals Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Minerals Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MTX. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Minerals Technologies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Minerals Technologies in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Minerals Technologies from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Minerals Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Minerals Technologies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $90.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Minerals Technologies

In other Minerals Technologies news, VP Timothy Jordan sold 6,000 shares of Minerals Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.27, for a total transaction of $481,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 1,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,665.33. This trade represents a 82.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Minerals Technologies Company Profile

Minerals Technologies Inc develops, produces and processes a broad range of mineral-based products and solutions that serve a variety of industrial applications. Its offerings include bentonite, perlite, precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), mineral sands, foundry additives, performance minerals and specialty chemicals designed to enhance performance in markets such as paper, steel, construction, oil and gas, environmental remediation and consumer products.

The company operates through several business segments, including Specialty Minerals, Refractory Minerals, Performance Materials and Recycled Materials.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.