Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) Stock Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Minerals Technologies crossed above its 200‑day moving average
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: MarketBeat's average rating is Hold with an $89 average target, while Truist rates it a $89 "Buy" and Weiss Ratings still lists a "Sell."
• Fundamentals show a slight EPS miss (Q1 EPS $1.27 vs. $1.28 estimate) and a modest revenue beat ($519.5M); the company has a $2.26B market cap, a negative P/E (-143.12), a $0.48 annualized dividend (0.7% yield), and ~97% institutional ownership.

Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX - Get Free Report) shares crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $64.33 and traded as high as $73.06. Minerals Technologies shares last traded at $72.9930, with a volume of 139,296 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MTX. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Minerals Technologies from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Minerals Technologies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Minerals Technologies in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Minerals Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.00.

Minerals Technologies Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -143.12 and a beta of 1.19. The business's 50-day moving average price is $70.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.33.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.01). Minerals Technologies had a negative net margin of 0.89% and a positive return on equity of 10.22%. The company had revenue of $519.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $517.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Minerals Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Minerals Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MTX. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Minerals Technologies by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,139 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,878 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,514 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Jain Global LLC increased its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Jain Global LLC now owns 4,143 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 11,841 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $722,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. 97.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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