Legal & General Group Plc Takes Position in Minerals Technologies Inc. $MTX

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 69,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,140,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.22% of Minerals Technologies at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Minerals Technologies by 28.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 19,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 4,337 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Minerals Technologies by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 110,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,995,000 after purchasing an additional 9,363 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 177.6% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 68,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,333,000 after purchasing an additional 43,604 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 18,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 4,322 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Minerals Technologies during the first quarter valued at $70,000. 97.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Minerals Technologies Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of MTX stock opened at $70.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of -32.65 and a beta of 1.14. Minerals Technologies Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.94 and a 52-week high of $84.34.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.04). Minerals Technologies had a positive return on equity of 10.63% and a negative net margin of 3.13%.The business had revenue of $548.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $558.77 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Minerals Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Minerals Technologies’s payout ratio is -22.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MTX. Weiss Ratings downgraded Minerals Technologies from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Minerals Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.00.

About Minerals Technologies

Minerals Technologies Inc develops, produces and processes a broad range of mineral-based products and solutions that serve a variety of industrial applications. Its offerings include bentonite, perlite, precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), mineral sands, foundry additives, performance minerals and specialty chemicals designed to enhance performance in markets such as paper, steel, construction, oil and gas, environmental remediation and consumer products.

The company operates through several business segments, including Specialty Minerals, Refractory Minerals, Performance Materials and Recycled Materials.