Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) is Magnolia Group LLC’s 9th Largest Position

Magnolia Group LLC lifted its stake in Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) by 105.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 849,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 436,660 shares during the quarter. Compass Minerals International comprises 3.2% of Magnolia Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Magnolia Group LLC’s holdings in Compass Minerals International were worth $21,509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CMP. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. bought a new position in Compass Minerals International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,195,000. Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Compass Minerals International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $844,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Compass Minerals International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,039,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Compass Minerals International by 65.8% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 18,146 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Compass Minerals International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $428,000. 99.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Compass Minerals International from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.80.

Compass Minerals International Price Performance

Shares of Compass Minerals International stock traded down $0.89 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $12.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 655,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 695,727. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $17.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.63. The company has a current ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. Compass Minerals International, Inc. has a one year low of $11.85 and a one year high of $39.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $514.31 million, a P/E ratio of -9.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.13.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $341.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.84 million. Compass Minerals International had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 4.97%. Compass Minerals International’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Compass Minerals International, Inc. will post 0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Compass Minerals International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.82%. Compass Minerals International’s dividend payout ratio is currently -41.10%.

Compass Minerals International Profile

Compass Minerals International, Inc, provides essential minerals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Salt and Plant Nutrition. The Salt segment produces, markets, and sells sodium chloride and magnesium chloride, including rock salt, mechanically and solar evaporated salt, and brine and flake magnesium chloride products; and purchases potassium chloride and calcium chloride to sell as finished products or to blend with sodium chloride to produce specialty products.