Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) Upgraded at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has $30.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $20.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Compass Point set a $30.00 target price on shares of Compass Minerals International in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

Compass Minerals International Price Performance

Shares of CMP opened at $29.37 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 195.80 and a beta of 1.18. Compass Minerals International has a 1-year low of $16.40 and a 1-year high of $32.39. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $453.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $418.97 million. Compass Minerals International had a net margin of 0.55% and a return on equity of 8.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Compass Minerals International will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Compass Minerals International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CMP. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Compass Minerals International by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 13,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Compass Minerals International by 994.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 172,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,037,000 after purchasing an additional 157,111 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. bought a new position in Compass Minerals International in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $305,000. Globeflex Capital L P acquired a new position in shares of Compass Minerals International in the first quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 94.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,076 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

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.