Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Strong-Buy Rating

Key Points

• Minerals Technologies was upgraded from a "buy" to a "strong-buy" rating by analysts at Wall Street Zen, reflecting increased analyst confidence in the stock.
• Truist Financial raised the target price on MTX from $80.00 to $84.00, and the company has a current consensus price target of $84.00 as well.
• Minerals Technologies reported earnings of $1.55 per share for the last quarter, beating analysts' expectations, although revenue decreased by 2.3% year-over-year.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX - Free Report) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Friday.

Separately, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Minerals Technologies from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $84.00.

Minerals Technologies Trading Up 3.3%

MTX stock traded up $2.09 on Friday, hitting $65.12. 221,944 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 217,130. Minerals Technologies has a twelve month low of $49.54 and a twelve month high of $86.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The business's fifty day moving average is $60.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,085.43 and a beta of 1.22.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.12. Minerals Technologies had a net margin of 0.10% and a return on equity of 10.64%. The company had revenue of $528.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $529.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Minerals Technologies will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Minerals Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid 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 was Friday, August 15th. Minerals Technologies's dividend payout ratio is 733.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,955 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 15,381.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,159 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $837,000 after buying an additional 13,074 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 341.8% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,394 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 6,494 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 171,008 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,871,000 after buying an additional 4,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Minerals Technologies during the 1st quarter worth about $1,279,000. 97.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Minerals Technologies

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.