Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) Short Interest Update

Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 478,500 shares, an increase of 19.0% from the April 30th total of 402,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 259,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Minerals Technologies

In related news, CFO Erik Aldag purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $50.37 per share, with a total value of $50,370.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,245 shares in the company, valued at $213,820.65. This represents a 30.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Minerals Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MTX. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 210.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 111,526 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,615,000 after acquiring an additional 75,565 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Minerals Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $145,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,009 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 43.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,478 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Minerals Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $462,000. Institutional investors own 97.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Minerals Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Minerals Technologies from $92.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Minerals Technologies Price Performance

Minerals Technologies stock traded down $0.10 on Friday, reaching $57.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 117,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 188,641. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.84. The company has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.22. The business's fifty day moving average price is $56.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.87. Minerals Technologies has a twelve month low of $49.54 and a twelve month high of $90.30.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $491.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $502.03 million. Minerals Technologies had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 7.89%. Minerals Technologies's revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Minerals Technologies will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Minerals Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Minerals Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently -57.14%.

Minerals Technologies Company Profile

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.