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

Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) has earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.60.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CMP shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Compass Minerals International in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Compass Point set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $7,336,000 after purchasing an additional 124,874 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Compass Minerals International by 379.4% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 522,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,024,000 after purchasing an additional 413,205 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Compass Minerals International by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 9,944 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its position in Compass Minerals International by 149.4% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 36,590 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $703,000 after buying an additional 21,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc grew its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 25.8% during the third quarter. Man Group plc now owns 215,934 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,146,000 after buying an additional 44,320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

Compass Minerals International Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of Compass Minerals International stock opened at $20.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 2.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.23 and a 200-day moving average of $19.23. Compass Minerals International has a 52-week low of $8.60 and a 52-week high of $22.69. The stock has a market cap of $857.39 million, a PE ratio of -10.68 and a beta of 1.16.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 8th. The basic materials company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.02). Compass Minerals International had a negative net margin of 6.42% and a negative return on equity of 8.22%. The business had revenue of $227.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $223.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.77) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Compass Minerals International will post -0.53 EPS for the current year.

Compass Minerals International Company Profile

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.