HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 24,529 Shares of Minerals Technologies Inc. $MTX

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Minerals Technologies Inc. by 88%, selling 24,529 shares and maintaining only 3,348 shares worth approximately $213,000.
• Minerals Technologies reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.55, surpassing estimates but experiencing a 2.3% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share, with a significant dividend payout ratio of 733.33%.

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX - Free Report) by 88.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,348 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 24,529 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Minerals Technologies were worth $213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Minerals Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $236,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,907 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Minerals Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $298,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Minerals Technologies by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,312 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Minerals Technologies by 7.3% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,955 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MTX. Truist Financial raised their target price on Minerals Technologies from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Minerals Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.00.

Minerals Technologies Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MTX traded up $0.10 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $63.10. The stock had a trading volume of 324,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 216,721. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Minerals Technologies Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.54 and a 12 month high of $86.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a PE ratio of 1,051.83 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's fifty day moving average is $60.65 and its 200 day moving average is $59.81.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $528.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $529.13 million. Minerals Technologies had a return on equity of 10.64% and a net margin of 0.10%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Minerals Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Minerals Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 733.33%.

Minerals Technologies Profile

Minerals Technologies Inc develops, produces, and markets various mineral, mineral-based, and related systems and services. The company operates through two segments, Consumer & Specialties, and Engineered Solutions segments. The Consumer & Specialties segment offers household and personal care products, such as pet litter, personal care, fabric care, edible oil and other fluid purification, animal health, and agricultural products; and specialty additives products, including precipitated calcium carbonate and ground calcium carbonate products that are used in the paper, paperboard, and fiber based packaging industries, as well as automotive, construction, and table and food applications.