Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) has earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.00.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CMP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Compass Minerals International from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Compass Minerals International in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Loop Capital set a $24.00 price objective on Compass Minerals International in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Compass Minerals International from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th.

Compass Minerals International Stock Performance

NYSE CMP opened at $25.59 on Thursday. Compass Minerals International has a 52-week low of $8.60 and a 52-week high of $27.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $21.45 and a 200-day moving average of $19.74. The company has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.33 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.32. Compass Minerals International had a negative return on equity of 8.22% and a negative net margin of 6.42%.The business had revenue of $396.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $329.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.55) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Compass Minerals International will post -0.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CMP. Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 23,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of Compass Minerals International by 80.0% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 105.9% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 45,228 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 23,261 shares in the last quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 593,887 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,664,000 after buying an additional 23,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 382,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,336,000 after buying an additional 124,874 shares during the period. 99.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Compass Minerals International

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.