Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) Stock Rated “Reduce” by Wall Street Analysts

Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the five brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.00.

CMP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Compass Minerals International from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Compass Minerals International in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Compass Minerals International from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. Compass Point set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank decreased their price target on shares of Compass Minerals International from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 31st.

Compass Minerals International Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of CMP opened at $23.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 2.01. The company has a market cap of $966.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.56 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.88. Compass Minerals International has a 52-week low of $16.76 and a 52-week high of $34.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CMP. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 18.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 913,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,333,000 after acquiring an additional 140,918 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Compass Minerals International by 994.4% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 172,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,037,000 after purchasing an additional 157,111 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Compass Minerals International during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,755,000. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Compass Minerals International during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,603,000. Finally, Irenic Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Compass Minerals International during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,520,000. 99.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Compass Minerals International

Compass Minerals International (NYSE: CMP) produces essential minerals used in transportation, consumer and industrial markets, and agriculture. Its products include rock salt for highway deicing, as well as salt for consumer and industrial applications. The company also produces sulfate of potash, a specialty fertilizer used to support crop growth. Compass Minerals makes the product from resources at its Great Salt Lake operations in Utah. Compass Minerals’ salt operations include mines in Goderich, Ontario, and Winsford, England.