Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Compass Minerals International in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Compass Minerals International Price Performance

CMP stock opened at $27.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60. Compass Minerals International has a 12 month low of $16.40 and a 12 month high of $30.04. The firm has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 185.98 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $24.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.89.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.04. Compass Minerals International had a net margin of 0.55% and a return on equity of 8.99%. The firm had revenue of $453.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $418.97 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Compass Minerals International will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Compass Minerals International

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMP. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,414,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $106,332,000 after purchasing an additional 308,957 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,775,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,282,000 after purchasing an additional 354,960 shares during the last quarter. Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. raised its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 201.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. now owns 1,280,648 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,728,000 after purchasing an additional 856,149 shares during the last quarter. Gumshoe Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Compass Minerals International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,842,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,236,884 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,748,000 after purchasing an additional 320,796 shares during the last quarter. 99.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Compass Minerals International Company Profile

Compass Minerals International, Inc is a global producer of essential mineral-based products, primarily known for its salt and plant nutrition portfolios. The company’s deicing salts are used by municipalities and commercial customers across North America to maintain safer roadways in winter months. In addition, its water conditioning salts serve both residential and industrial users, supporting water treatment systems that remove hard minerals to protect plumbing and equipment.

Beyond conventional salt products, Compass Minerals has developed a specialty plant nutrition business focused on sulfate of potash (SOP), a premium fertilizer that provides both potassium and sulfur to crops.