Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Minerals Technologies from "strong-buy" to "buy"; the firm now sits among one Buy, one Hold and one Sell rating, leaving a MarketBeat consensus of "Hold" with an average price target of $89.00.
• In Q4 the company reported EPS of $1.27 (missing estimates by $0.01) and revenue of $519.5M (slightly above expectations), while recording a small negative net margin (-0.89%) and only 0.3% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The stock trades near $72.85 with a market cap of $2.26B and a negative trailing P/E (-142.84), and institutional investors own about 97.29% of the shares.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Minerals Technologies in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Zacks Research raised Minerals Technologies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Minerals Technologies from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Minerals Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.00.

Minerals Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MTX opened at $72.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business's 50 day moving average is $70.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.58. The company has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -142.84 and a beta of 1.19. Minerals Technologies has a 12 month low of $49.54 and a 12 month high of $75.29.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $519.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $517.83 million. Minerals Technologies had a positive return on equity of 10.22% and a negative net margin of 0.89%.The business's quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Minerals Technologies will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Minerals Technologies

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,139 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,878 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,514 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Jain Global LLC boosted its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Jain Global LLC now owns 4,143 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 11,841 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $722,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.29% of the company's stock.

More Minerals Technologies News

Here are the key news stories impacting Minerals Technologies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are positioning ahead of Minerals Technologies’ quarterly earnings due this week — anticipation of sales/earnings beats or favorable guidance is a common near-term catalyst that can lift the stock. Minerals Technologies (MTX) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Thursday
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent published analysis that compares Ashland (ASH) and Minerals Technologies provides fresh market attention and may influence trader flows or analyst commentary, but the piece itself does not constitute company-specific news (it’s informational rather than a change in fundamentals). Analyzing Ashland NYSE: ASH and Minerals Technologies NYSE: MTX
• Negative Sentiment: Recent fundamentals are mixed: Minerals Technologies slightly missed Q4 EPS estimates (by $0.01), reported a small negative net margin, and shows a negative trailing PE — these factors can limit upside if upcoming results or guidance disappoint.

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.

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