Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) Shares Pass Above 200-Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Technical breakout: Shares of Minerals Technologies crossed above their 200‑day moving average (200‑day MA $63.54), trading as high as $68.19 and last near $66.12 on ~238,000 shares.
• Mixed analyst view with a "Hold" consensus: One Buy, one Hold and one Sell drive a MarketBeat consensus of "Hold" and an average target price of $89 (Truist recently raised its target to $89 and maintained a Buy).
• Quarterly results and payout: The company reported $1.27 EPS (missed by $0.01) and $519.5M revenue (slightly above expectations), and pays a $0.12 quarterly dividend (annualized $0.48, ~0.7% yield) despite a negative net margin.

Shares of Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX - Get Free Report) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $63.54 and traded as high as $68.19. Minerals Technologies shares last traded at $66.1160, with a volume of 238,053 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Minerals Technologies in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Minerals Technologies from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Minerals Technologies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.00.

Minerals Technologies Price Performance

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $69.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.54. The firm has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of -129.64 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.45.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.27 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations 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 business posted $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Minerals Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Minerals Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -94.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Minerals Technologies news, insider Dj Monagle III sold 23,093 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.90, for a total value of $1,429,456.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 84,349 shares in the company, valued at $5,221,203.10. This represents a 21.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Minerals Technologies

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MTX. SG Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Minerals Technologies by 137.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 148,385 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,044,000 after acquiring an additional 548,385 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 436.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 538,073 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,632,000 after acquiring an additional 437,734 shares during the last quarter. Broad Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Minerals Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $16,926,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 20.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,284,532 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $70,739,000 after purchasing an additional 216,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caption Management LLC increased its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. Caption Management LLC now owns 5,375 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 205,375 shares during the last quarter. 97.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Minerals Technologies

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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