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

Shares of Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) have earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $27.60.

Several research firms have weighed in on CMP. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Compass Minerals International in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of Compass Minerals International in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Compass Point set a $27.00 price objective on Compass Minerals International in a research note on Monday, August 10th.

Compass Minerals International Price Performance

NYSE CMP opened at $25.87 on Monday. Compass Minerals International has a 52 week low of $16.40 and a 52 week high of $34.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.16 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.99.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $215.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.75 million. Compass Minerals International had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 1.42%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.39) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Compass Minerals International will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Compass Minerals International

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 18.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 913,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,333,000 after purchasing an additional 140,918 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 994.4% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 172,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,037,000 after buying an additional 157,111 shares in the last quarter. Irenic Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Compass Minerals International during the 1st quarter valued at $33,520,000. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 87.7% in the 4th quarter. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. now owns 56,439 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,108,000 after buying an additional 26,371 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 692.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,253,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,259,000 after buying an additional 1,094,987 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

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.