Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) Trading Up 3.8%

Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 3.8% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $15.03 and last traded at $15.03. 99,177 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 708,439 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Compass Minerals International Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $590.75 million, a P/E ratio of -9.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 3.07 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

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

Compass Minerals International Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Compass Minerals International

In related news, Director Joseph E. Reece bought 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $21.24 per share, for a total transaction of $106,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 16,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $339,840. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Compass Minerals International

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CMP. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Compass Minerals International by 117.9% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,391 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 2,376 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Compass Minerals International by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 140,097 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,547,000 after buying an additional 19,455 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Compass Minerals International by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,364 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 1,849 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Compass Minerals International by 181.4% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 57,103 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,445,000 after buying an additional 36,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Compass Minerals International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $354,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.78% of the company's stock.

Compass Minerals International Company Profile

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.