Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Strong-Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on CMP. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Compass Minerals International from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Compass Minerals International from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Compass Minerals International Stock Down 3.2%

NYSE CMP opened at $19.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 2.37. Compass Minerals International has a twelve month low of $7.51 and a twelve month high of $20.96. The stock has a market cap of $815.06 million, a PE ratio of -4.97 and a beta of 1.11.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.24. Compass Minerals International had a negative return on equity of 10.00% and a negative net margin of 15.10%. The company had revenue of $494.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $413.96 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Compass Minerals International will post -0.53 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Compass Minerals International by 4.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,665 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Compass Minerals International by 19.4% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 305,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,840,000 after purchasing an additional 49,668 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Compass Minerals International by 10.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 49,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 4,740 shares during the period. Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. bought a new position in Compass Minerals International during the first quarter worth about $3,944,000. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Compass Minerals International by 48.2% during the first quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 222,370 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,066,000 after purchasing an additional 72,370 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

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.