13,800 Shares in Minerals Technologies Inc. $MTX Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 13,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $979,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTX. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 626.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Minerals Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Minerals Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $56,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Minerals Technologies during the 1st quarter worth $70,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Minerals Technologies by 136.2% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MTX shares. Weiss Ratings raised Minerals Technologies from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Minerals Technologies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Minerals Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Minerals Technologies in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.00.

Minerals Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE MTX opened at $74.30 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.21. Minerals Technologies Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.94 and a 1 year high of $84.34.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.12. Minerals Technologies had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $546.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $516.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Minerals Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Minerals Technologies’s payout ratio is 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Minerals Technologies

In related news, VP Timothy Jordan sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.27, for a total transaction of $481,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,279 shares in the company, valued at $102,665.33. This represents a 82.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.