Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,160,000 shares, a growth of 16.6% from the March 15th total of 2,710,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 723,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph E. Reece purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.24 per share, for a total transaction of $106,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 16,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $339,840. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Compass Minerals International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMP. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Compass Minerals International by 123.8% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 15,171 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $953,000 after acquiring an additional 8,391 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Compass Minerals International by 8.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 13,269 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $833,000 after buying an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Compass Minerals International by 2.7% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,615 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Compass Minerals International by 40.0% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,327 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Compass Minerals International by 12.4% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 53,798 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,410,000 after buying an additional 5,926 shares during the last quarter. 99.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Compass Minerals International Price Performance

NYSE:CMP traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $14.30. 488,116 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 962,902. Compass Minerals International has a one year low of $13.54 and a one year high of $39.78. The company has a market capitalization of $590.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.71. The company has a current ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $341.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.84 million. Compass Minerals International had a negative net margin of 4.97% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Compass Minerals International will post 0.11 EPS for the current year.

Compass Minerals International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Compass Minerals International's dividend payout ratio is currently -41.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Compass Minerals International from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Compass Minerals International from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Compass Minerals International from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded Compass Minerals International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.40.

About Compass Minerals International

Compass Minerals International, Inc, provides essential minerals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Salt and Plant Nutrition. The Salt segment produces, markets, and sells sodium chloride and magnesium chloride, including rock salt, mechanically and solar evaporated salt, and brine and flake magnesium chloride products; and purchases potassium chloride and calcium chloride to sell as finished products or to blend with sodium chloride to produce specialty products.